September 7, 2018
As our work to prevent child sexual abuse pushes onward in our local communities, we are reminded of the mission of our national partner Darkness to Light: We empower adults to prevent child sexual abuse. We believe that adults own the responsibility to prevent child sexual abuse. They need to play an integral role in raising awareness of the issue with children andcreate safe, stable, supportive environments where they can be educated and empowered. That’s why we’re thrilled to share a new resource that might help.
Cindy Chambers and Kitty Kearns are authors of the book, Keep Me Safe: The Clapping Song. This is the first book in the Respect Book Series (available on Amazon here). The goal of the book is to communicate that with education comes empowerment, and all children should be taught to recognize an inappropriate situation so that they can—without reservation—ask for help from someone they trust.
The Clapping Song book is geared to children in grades PreK-5. It provides parents, educators, health-care providers, child-welfare workers and others with a useful aid for teaching children about appropriate and inappropriate touching. This phonological approach to broaching a sensitive, sometimes scary topic (through clapping) helps the child retain the information while reducing fear and promoting empowerment.
Three key points of Keep Me Safe: The Clapping Song that will assist you in starting the conversation about child sexual abuse are:
- Each of us deserves something called RESPECT.
- We are IN CHARGE of our bodies.
- We will NOT BE INTROUBLE; tell an adult that you trust.
1 in 10 children will be sexually abused before they reach the age of 18. Sharing this book with a child can make a difference in one life. But more importantly—sharing this book with adults can create a ripple effect, where an increasing number of adults are aware of the issue and have tools to take action.
We know adults can take a more proactive approach to preventing child sexual abuse in our community and it’s tools like this that can help.
Great resources for work in child sexual abuse prevention:
- Keep Me Safe: The Clapping Song
- Author Cindy Chamber’s website for the Respect book series
- SCAN’s Northern Virginia Child Sexual Abuse Resource List (Englishand Spanish)
- SCAN’s Fact Sheets on Child Sexual Abuse (English and Spanish)
- SCAN’s Action Steps to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse
- Stewards of Children Darkness to Light Training: Schedule a training for your business, organization, or community group. Contact SCAN today at [email protected]!