Take off your pants little girl. No. Go. Tell.
April 10, 2008 by Megan · 6 Comments
Toileting at day care often raises parental concerns: No doors on toilets, different carers toileting children, other children looking at each other’s private parts. My concern at day care was always that my children would be safe. Safety to me includes personal safety – sexual and sexuality safety.
Imaginif’s BITSS model of Protective Behaviours was born following a day care incident where the carer took punitive measures against my son for using correct body part terminology. Frustrated that early childhood educators were not always passing on the best safety messages to our children, I designed an easy to remember and at home play based protective behaviour model to keep kids safe from sexual predators. It is called the BITSS model (acronym for body ownership, intuition, touch, say no and support network) and the free e-tutorial that explains it is called Parent Sense.
Do protective behaviours work? In 2004 the Crime and Misconduct Commission did a review of child focused sexual abuse prevention programs: Child-focused sexual abuse prevention programs. How effective are they in preventing child abuse? The review revealed that there were many inherent difficulties in children retaining protective information metered out in a class room situation. While I still strongly advocate for protective behaviours being taught in schools and across all curricula, I even more strongly support that parents need to instill protective behaviour strategies in their children from the time the children are born. Does it work though?
Check this out and decide for yourself whether protective behaviour strategies work for toddlers at day care: No – Go – Tell. Congratulations to one kewl and emotionally intelligent mum and an even kewler daughter. I’m glad you got your “knickers in a knot” Miss J because when your knickers are knotted, NOBODY is allowed to take them off. Well done Alison, I am really proud of you and Miss J. Keep doing No – Go – Tell. You are just too kewl!
Additional posts for anyone interested in knowing more about teaching protective behaviours:
When should I start to teach protective behaviours and personal safety
Understanding protective behaviours in keeping children safe.
Home education and personal safety
About Megan
Thanks so much for the support Megan
Interesting review. It raises some good points about education for preschoolers. After a great paragraph about preschool education not being targeted enough or developmentally appropriate – I had to laugh at: “There is little evidence that protective training is effective with three-year-olds”. Could that be because it is not developmentally appropriate? lol
I actually bookmarked Alison’s post when I read it the other day. It is a great reminder to teach our children about the importance of their body and to protect it.
Alison’s post is well worth book marking…..I’m going to use it as a real example for other parents who question whether such little ones can be made cognisant of protective behaviours and personal safety.
I stumbled the post. You’ve done a great service by sharing this info Alison. Thank you so much. Thanks Melody too for recognising the importance of personal safety. Did you know that our far north police area has had the highest rate of sexual assault Australia wide? Scary ey!
This is my first vist here, and I have to say I’m most impressed.
There’s a lot of time {past and present} in this site. I admire the dedication.
Some great posts! I need some time to trawl
Hello and welcome anonymum. You are most welcome here. I suspect you and I have a very similar sense of humour…I have spent some time at your site laughing and nodding my head in the affirmative
There’s nothing quite like the far north Aussie bent on life.
I was MOST excited when I found out you were in Cairns! Most people are further sth..
As to the sense of humor, well, it’s warped, dark and deviated and I like it that way…good way to be…
Thanks for the welcome
Cheers
Maureen