PERSONAL SAFETY 2ND GRADE – SAFE VS. UNSAFE TOUCHES POWER POINT

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Today we are going to talk about some important safety rules. I bet you already know a lot of safety rules! Let’s play a little game… What should you do when you get in the car? (pause for answers) Put on your seat belt! What about when you get on your bike? (Pause for answers) Put on your helmet! Ok, lets try one more… what about when you are about to cross a busy street? (Pause for answers) Look both ways/hold a grown ups hand. Now do we put on a seat belt because we think we think we are going to have an accident? Or do we put on our helmets when we ride our bike because we think…I am going to crash into a tree today? No, we do those things, just incase! Today we are going to learn some just incase rules to keep our bodies safe.

I have a really important question for you. Who is in charge of your body? (pause for answers) You are in charge of your body and you can say when you don’t like something. And no one is allowed to touch you on the private parts of your body or in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable or afraid.

Our bodies have zones. Some zones are public. Public zones mean they are okay for everyone to see. Our face, our hands, our arms, our legs, and our feet are all public. (in some cultures, a woman does not show her face, but in our culture we do.) Other zones are private. Our private zones are the parts we cover with our bathing suit . At NOVA we say our private zones are the parts of our bodies that are covered when we wear a bathing suit. These private zones are off limits and nobody should ever ask to touch them or see them. We call that an unsafe touch When might we need help with our private zones? (Ask students for responses)

There are only two reasons why someone may need to help us with the private parts of our bodies. 1-to stay clean, 2-to stay healthy. Click. Ask “How many of you used to be a baby?” “when you were an itty bitty baby that couldn’t walk or talk, could you change your own diaper or give yourself a bath? No, you needed help from a grown up. If a baby doesn’t have their diaper changed they could get really sore and stinky!” “Now that you are getting older you need less and help with getting dressed and keeping clean. Sometimes even older kids and grown ups still need help with that. And that's ok, to have their trusted grown up helping them with that. “ Tell a story of someone in a cast that needed help with this and ask the kids, is that a safe reason? “Yes’” Ask the students “how many of you have been to a doctor for a check up? Sometimes when we go to the dr, the dr needs to check the private parts of our bodies to make sure we are staying healthy. And that's ok, because the dr is only checking to keep us healthy and we have our trusted adult with us.”

I have a very important question. If a grown up or an older boy or girl breaks the safety rule and touches a child on the private parts of their body for no good reason, whose fault would it be? (Wait for responses.)

I hope you remember this the rest of your lives and that you teach this to your children and grand children. If a grown up or older boy or girl touches a child on the private parts of his/her body… It is NEVER the child’s fault. (have the children repeat “it’s never the child’s fault” along with you.)

Who would try to touch a child on his/her private parts for no good reason?(Ask students for responses) It could be a stranger. A stranger must ask an adult for help. No stranger should ever ask a child for help. They need to ask another adult. Not a child! It could be someone old, or young, a man or a woman. Some you know or don’t know or someone you do know and even love. Most people are good and would never touch a child on the private parts of their body for no good reason… but remember in the beginning we talked about our just incase safety rules? We are learning these safety rules just incase, so we would know what to do.

Practice Say “NO!” Practice this with a serious face and an important voice. Next is GO. Ask, where do you feel safe? Where would you go? The next step and most important step is to TELL. Who would you tell?

Ask the kids who their trusted adults are, who could they talk to if they had a problem? A home? And at school? Sometimes it is hard for adults to understand when someone has touched a child on their private parts for no good reason. Ask “what could you do if you told someone and they didn’t believe you or didn’t understand? “Keep telling someone until someone helps you. You have the right to be believed. It’s never too late to talk to a trusted grown up about an unsafe touch, no matter how long ago it happened… days, weeks or even years!”

WE SHOULD NEVER KEEP TOUCHING SECRETS. Sometimes when a grown up gives an unsafe touch they try to trick the child and say “don’t tell anyone this is our little secret” Why do you think the grown up would say that? Pause for answers… That’s right they don't want to get in trouble. Explain the difference between happy surprise and a secret.

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Wilson was out riding his bike one day and he started down a steep hill in his neighborhood. He was going so fast and had trouble stopping and just fell right off. He scraped up his knees pretty bad. His mother came out to check on him and saw that he was upset. She knew he was hurt and wanted to make him feel better so she asked if she could give him a hug. Sure enough, a hug from Mom was all that Wilson needed (and couple of bandaids).

Was it good that Mom “asked” to give Wilson a hug? Why or why not? Was the hug a safe touch or an unsafe touch? How do you know? How did Wilson feel after the hug?

Marcie and her mom went to the doctor for Marcie’s annual checkup. Marcie was really uncomfortable and nervous about going because she couldn’t remember what happens (but she did remember that last time she got a shot that hurt).Marcie’s mom could tell that Marcie was a little scared, so she asked the doctor to explain what is going to happen during the visit. The doctor told her that Marcie would have to get undressed so he could check her over to make sure she was growing healthy and strong. He said that Marcie’s mom could stay with her the entire time. There would even be a nurse in the room to help with the exam. Marcie felt a bit more comfortable knowing that her Mom was with her, so she got ready for the checkup. Of course, the doctor checked out her eyes, ears, nose, throat, chest (deep breaths in and out). He then looked over her private parts of the body to make sure all was healthy. After the brief check, he gave Marcie a clean bill of health. He handed her her favorite color lollipop and said he’d see her again next year. Marcie was really proud of herself for being brave and she actually didn’t mind the checkup because she knew that he was just making sure she was healthy.

Did the doctor have to look and touch the private part of Marcie’s body? Was this a safe touch or unsafe touch? Why? Who was with Marcie the whole time?

Richard is a neighbor and occasional babysitter to Wilson and Tara. Wilson loves it when Richard comes to babysit because he plays minecraft with him and lets him do stuff that his parents won’t let him do (like stay up past bedtime watching movies). The last time Richard came to watch Wilson, Richard suggested a new game of “show and tell”. Wilson remembered this from school and thought is sounded fun. He went to his room to get something to show Richard and was excited thinking about what Richard might show him (maybe a new video game…). Sure enough, Richard had the latest NBA 2K20. Wilson was super ready to start playing and forgot that he was supposed to “show” something. Richard told him that it was his turn and asked Wilson to show him something that was on his body. Wilson suddenly felt weird because he knew Richard was asking to see a part of his body that is off limits and private!. He was confused and not sure about what to do. He really wanted to play the new game and he likes and trust Richard. Richard told him it would be their secret, just like staying up at night, past his bedtime…

Is it OK for an adult (or anyone) to ask to see the private part of the body when the purpose is NOT to make sure you’re clean and NOT to keep you healthy?

Two weeks ago, Theadora had to stay at her uncle’s for sleepover because her parents had to go away for a night. She was soooo excited to hang out with her uncle. He was her favorite. They would put on plays and have dance parties. Her uncle told her they were going to bake some cookies and eats “tons” of candy. He told her to keep it a secret from her parents because they wouldn’t be happy with the sweet stuff…Theadora LOVES the sweet stuff, so she said nothing to her parents. When she got to her uncle’s house, he had put out this outfit that was very strange and something she felt really uncomfortable in. It showed parts of her body that were private. She didn’t understand because he said he just wanted to take some pictures of her looking like a “princess”. She felt this was very strange, but she trusted him and did what he asked. She wanted to make him happy.

After a few days, Theadora’s mom noticed that Theadora was acting very strange. She was really quiet and complained of a tummy ache. She stopped eating and wasn’t her happy-go-lucky self. Her mom suggested taking Theadora to the doctor. Before the dr. appointment, Theadora admitted to her mom that she was feeling bad, but not because she was sick. She told her mom what her uncle asked her to do and said she’s been feeling so bad ever since because she knew her parents would be really mad at her (that’s what her uncle had told her). She didn’t want to get into trouble.

Her mom asked if she could hug her and Theadora cried and said yes.Mom thanked Theadora for telling about the events that took place and reassured Theadora that it was NOT HER FAULT.

Did the uncle ask Theadora to do something that wasn’t safe? Is it ever too late to tell a trusted grownup about an unsafe touch or request?

Practice Say “NO!” Practice this with a serious face and an important voice. Next is GO. Ask, where do you feel safe? Where would you go? The next step and most important step is to TELL. Who would you tell?

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