Here to talk to you about hope after sexual abuse is victim advocate, Melanie Sachs. Trigger Warning: This post includes a description of sexual abuse. Hope is a word we often see or hear in many different contexts. What this word means to me goes beyond the definition you may find when you Google it,
What do you know about online safety for kids? Guest Post by Moe McClanahan…Director of Training & Education at the Safe Surfin’ Foundation It’s important for parents to stay in control of their child’s Internet usage to prevent online victimization. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) is reporting a 97.5% increase in online enticement
Today a second-grade teacher in Monongalia County, West Virginia, messaged me about a body safety education presentation in her classroom. What a thrill to hear how my newly-published children’s book, The Brave Knight, “performed” in a class-room setting! Here’s her “book-report.” Each year in West Virginia schools, a body safety education lesson is presented in all
Do you know what grooming behavior is? In the skeevy, underbelly, predatory sense of the word? During body safety assemblies when I speak to school kids about grooming, I say, “I’m not talking about brushing your Golden Retriever’s fur.” To me, Grooming is the process a sexual predator uses to gain the trust of a potential
In my effort to gain more expertise in the area of child safety, I recently went through two trainings from the national organization, Darkness to Light. Darkness to Light is a non-profit committed to empowering adults to prevent child sexual abuse. The first training was the 30-minute program, “Protecting Children During a Crisis,” created with
My first book ever—a children’s book—is here! At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the founder of the nonprofit Shield Task Force asked a favor. “Will you please write a children’s book, that in a non-threatening way, shows kids what “grooming” is? “Grooming” is the process by which a sexual predator gains the trust of
As a body safety educator in the state of West Virginia, my job is keeping kids safe. From situations like sexual abuse, bullying, neglect, and more. So far this year, I’ve taught 1,800 K-8th graders how to stop the bad guys (or gals) in their lives. The keeping kids safe process can be distilled down
Your story is your glory. My boss, Karen Haring—founder and executive director at the nonprofit Libera—loves that saying. Personally I’m fond of an offshoot of this idea: “Your mess is your message.” These two sayings took on new meaning for me recently when… I volunteered as a “Listener” at a body safety assembly in a
In America, at least one in 10 children will be sexually abused by the time they are 18. Sweet girl. Oh, no… I’m so sorry. Did they call you that? I should have been more careful with my words. Please forgive me. I will only refer to you by your name moving forward. Here’s what
Question: How are you protecting your children during the pandemic situation we’re currently experiencing? During the pandemic, child abuse statistics have fallen. In West Virginia, and no doubt, all 50 states. You may think that’s a good thing. I did. But it’s not a good thing. Over half of all reports of child abuse are
