Puppets with a Purpose: Safe Touches Prevention Program
In Pennsylvania, 1 in 4 boys and 1 in 6 girls will face abuse before their 18th birthday (NYSPCC). Not only are cases of sexual violence vastly underestimated, it is common that many cases go unreported. The newly introduced child sexual abuse prevention program, “Safe Touches”, uses puppets to get an important point across to our children. This evidence-backed program involves a 50 minute workshop for children in kindergarten to 3rd grade. This highly interactive, scenario and roleplay grounded workshop teaches our children how to be safe.
Toby, Petunia, Eunice, and Herbert, our puppet friends, teach children how to stay safe from sexual abuse by offering four incredibly useful safety tools. These four safety tools include trusting your feelings, trying to say “no”, trying to walk away, and telling an adult. Children are told to trust their feelings and listen to their bodies, especially if they are feeling hurt, confused, or uncomfortable about a touch. Emphasizing that children’s voices are important and deserve to be heard, equips them with a tool that can be used throughout their lifetime. Walking away from the situation and telling an adult allows the child to recognize how they are feeling and when something that is happening is not okay. Our children deserve to feel powerful, prepared, and protected, even at a young age.
Another hard-hitting point of this program is to teach children that it is NEVER their fault. It will never be their fault, and it has never been their fault. They will learn that their bodies belong to them, and only they can determine their own rules and boundaries with touches. Not only is this program designed to teach children about their own bodies, it also educates children on what to do if another child is feeling unsafe. Children also receive an activity booklet to take home so they always have an important tool when needed. These activity booklets can be filled out and done with parents or caregivers, including roleplay scenarios to help reinforce these body safety rules at home.
Sexual violence can cast a shadow over survivor’s that time simply cannot dim. Our prevention efforts aim to break these cycles and challenge these harmful norms. Staring these cycles right in the face and telling it “no” is not only educational, it is survival. Children deserve to recognize that their bodies are important and that they have the right to say no, at all ages. Although the puppets may seem silly on the outside, inside they statistically aid in helping children to reclaim their voices and protect themselves and others from sexual abuse. Stopping the cycle before it continues is only one of the many major key points in our prevention efforts. Request a program for free by emailing astetson@sarccheals.org
This blog post was developed by Ashley Stetson, SARCC Prevention & Outreach Specialist.