We teach the children to hold hands and to check both sides of the road before crossing it. We teach them to say hello, the rules of courtesy, the respect at school for living well together. But do we teach them to pay attention to ill-intentioned people and to recognise risky situations?
In France, nearly 40% of sexual abuse is committed on underage children. How do we help our children to be protected more efficiently, to understand the respect of their body and the others’, to distinguish normal affective gestures from forbidden gestures? It is necessary to discuss these questions, without scaring them and with an appropriate speech for the child’s age. Better informed children are safer children who could talk more in case of trouble!
Here are two prevention booklets created by psychologists and an author of children’s books to help you approach these matters with simple words and images.
Download the adult’s booklet which explains how to approach it with the child, how to listen to them, how to react, and how to get some help.
The “Caution licence” is a short test to give to children from five years to teach them how to react well in dangerous situations, namely what is authorised or forbidden, and to discuss it with them.