Your child needs to know about
child sexual abuse and have an emergency plan in case someone attempts or
perpetrates abuse.
1. Identification: Make sure that you teach your child:
- His or her full name
- Date of birth
- Full name of parent
- Address
- Phone number
- Another safe person's name and phone number
2. Telephone Use: Make sure that your child always has change for a phone call. Make sure that your child knows to call you no matter who says they cannot. Teach your child:
- How to use the phone
- How to call 911 and give address and location
- How to dial "O" for operator
- How to make a collect call home.
3. Abuse response rehearsal: Rehearse plans in case of potential abuse. Review plans
periodically with your child. Include in the plans:
- What to do
- What to say
- Who to tell
4. Make sure you and your child discuss plans for situations involving perpetrators who are:
- Strangers
- Community members
- Family members
5. Teach your child about:
- Not opening the door to strangers
- Leaving home and where to go if abuser is in the home
- Possible escape routes in the home (specific door, window).
6. Help your child develop a “safety mind,” paying attention to safety factors around him or her - when in public, shopping, in the neighborhood, in community events, and at home.
7. Talk to your child about who to tell when in danger. Be specific.
If ______________ happens, I will tell _____________.
8. Develop a code that your child can use if he feels unsafe or if someone has done something to him, and he is afraid. The code could be one word that the child chooses. For example: When ______________ happens, I will use the word _____________ to let you know that something is wrong.
9. Have a list of safe places that your child can go if he or she needs one:
- A place to use the phone: _______________
- A place to stay for a couple of hours:______________
10. Create a list of phone numbers and teach them to your child. Place this list in a safe place. Include family members, police, pastor or priest, neighbor, babysitter, and parent's employer.
11. When in public with your child, keep your child in sight at all times.
12. Teach your child about strangers, defining one as a person they do not know very well. Teach your child that even though a stranger is kind and friendly, he is still a stranger. Practice safety scenarios.
13. Teach your child to ignore adults who ask for directions and talk to them when alone. Help your child know where to go and what to do in such situations.
14. Teach your child that it is okay to run away and scream if someone is approaching them forcefully or making them do something they know they should not do. Tell them to go to someone and tell, either you, as policeman, or another safe person.
15. Never leave your child alone in a car or unattended in a grocery store, mall, or any other location. Teach your child to go to the nearest clerk, preferably an older female clerk, or a policeman for help if he or she is separated from you in public.
16. If your child has been sexually abused, and the perpetrator is living in the home again:
- Know what warning signs in the child to be alert to.
- Know what signs in a perpetrator to be alert to.
- Have a plan of where to go, who to call, what to do if you suspect abuse is re-occurring in your home.