These questions aren’t the whole conversation, they’re just a starting point. They are a way to open up the dialogue that will allow you to come up with a safety plan together. My kids can name you five people they would trust to help them if they needed it. They know I will not be mad if they aggressively defend themselves. They know the appropriate names of their private parts so they can clearly communicate if something happened. They know their private parts are private because they are special, not because they are shameful. They know their body belongs to them and they are allowed to make decisions about who they give affection to. They know these things because we have talked about them. We have role played scenarios to figure out what we would do. I have told them that even if they have to tell me something hard about someone I have loved and trusted, I WANT to know and they NEED to tell me.
No child is born knowing those things any more than they are born knowing what to do in case of a fire. We have to train them for the worst and hope for the best. We do it calmly and intentionally so our kids won’t feel fearful or panicked as we discuss it. The more we can empower our kids to know their boundaries, have a plan, and trust us to help them, the more we can prevent them from becoming victims.
And should the worst happen, they’ll know what to do because we’ve practiced. They’ve prepared. Just like a fire drill.
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This article was written for foreverymom.com and may not be republished without permission.
