Last year our district pilot tested the Committee for Children Child Protection Unit. We had used other personal safety programs in the past but did not have anything in place across schools. We wanted a program that was evidence-based for our school counseling core curriculum.
A needs assessment in our county had shown that too high a percentage of students in our middle school were reporting that they had been inappropriately touched at school on a confidential survey. Nationally, 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys is a victim of child sexual abuse Only one third of victims of sexual abuse disclose that they have been abused.
We liked the Child Protection Unit because it teaches children to be aware of what actions and behaviors are inappropriate instead of teaching them to beware of a stereotypical “bad guy.” The stranger danger concept may risk allowing children to let their guard down around anyone who does not fit into that box. Children will be cautious of people they do not know which can help keep them safe, but it also means that when someone they know harms them it makes it harder to understand that a crime was committed. There are lessons about basic safety as well as those aimed at preventing sexual abuse.
This year we are using the Child Protection Unit across our county. Of course a few parents wanted to debate what we call "private body parts" (or use anatomically correct terms) but overall it has been well received by the students and appreciated by the parents.
For our district it makes sense to use this curriculum because we already use Second Step and the Bullying Unit by the Committee for Children so it reinforces the same key terms: recognize, refuse, and report. We did not use all of the materials because principals were nervous about backlash (like if the person doing the inappropriate touching is a family member), but hopefully next year we can include that lesson because it does happen in the real world.
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