Last night I went to a training for an after school program I’m teaching. It was all about preventing or reporting sexual abuse. It was horrifying in that one of the big things was knowing all about where your kids are and who they’re with and I feel like that is getting harder and harder with each passing day. Watch the video then please share your thoughts on how your keeping your kids safe, without hovering all day and night! After all, there is safety in numbers.
Such perfect timing Lenore has a post on volunteer background checks on Free Range Kids today. Clearly it’s a topic on everyone’s mind.
P.S. Looking for more parenting guidance and tips for self-care? Check out From Chaos to Calm a guided training to help you feel better in this tough season.
This has been a current for us as my kids started new schools. Needed to have a talk about some scary things. It’s hard to come crashing down on their innocence but I’m afraid knowledge is power so error on that side. Not *too much* knowledge but enough to let them know they can’t trust just anybody any time.
That’s where we are-as much knowledge as they can handle. They seem fine. It’s me that hates it so much!
Christie,
This is a really great topic, I have a lot of opinions, and my kids are just 2 and 4! On the one hand, you have to let you kids have freedom, on the other hand, how many horror stories to we hear from adults molested as children and their parents had no idea!
I think some of this may depend on the kid’s character. My daughter (4) is very independent and strong-willed, and not squeamish. I’ve taught her about bad men who may want to take her. I did this because she thought it was okay to walk off without telling me where she’s going. I had to demonstrate that she can’t just “kick the bad man,” (her plan), that he may be stronger, etc. Then the look on her face changed and she realized the importance of telling us where she is.
My son is a lot more sensitive, and only two years old. I’ll have to handle things differently.