As a Prevention specialist, my job is to have meaningful and engaging conversations with youth about subjects that can often feeling awkward, daunting, or complicated: touches, feelings, bodies, and more! Luckily, we have lots of tools to help us out, from books to activities and videos. In this Prevention Library Series, I will talk about a few of my favorites, the lessons they teach, how I use them, and ways you can use them, too!
Your Body is Awesome: Body Respect for Children by Sigrun Danielsdottir – Continuing in the Care for Kids series, this book serves as a fantastic complement to a conversation around body safety and respect. In this book, children learn several things, including:
- Your body is important and deserves to be treated with kindness and care.
- It is important to listen to your body when it tells you that you are hungry, thirsty, tired, or need to use the bathroom. (As adults, we can also remind children to listen to their bodies if a touch feels unsafe or uncomfortable).
- Adults should listen if you tell them your body needs something, like going to the bathroom.
- As adults, we are responsible for holding up our end of this one. I know this can be challenging at times, but when we encourage children to trust their body’s cues and establish that they can tell us about them without fearing punishment, it increases the chance that they will recognize an unsafe touch and tell us.
- Every body is a good body.
- It is okay if your body does not look the same as other people’s.
- It is not okay to make someone feel bad if their body looks different than yours.
Purchase the book: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Body-Awesome-Respect-Children/dp/1848192282
Used in the “Bodies” lesson of Care for Kids. See #1 for info about Care for Kids!
In addition to books, we use games and activities in our prevention programs, especially as kids progress beyond early elementary school. Some may be effective to do one-on-one with your child, while others are best for a group setting. If you would like to have SARCC provide a program at your school, childcare program, church, club, or organization, contact jwecker@sarccheals.org (Lebanon County) or cgeary@sarccschuylkill.org (Schuylkill County), or call 717-270-6972 (Lebanon) or 570-628-2965 (Schuylkill).
