Purpose

The issue of sexual abuse is a difficult and sensitive one for society to come to terms with, so informing children of the potential dangers they may be exposed to is a very challenging and sensitive task. As parents, carers, teachers and health workers we all have a responsibility to keep children safe. In order to do this we must provide children with information and awareness of potential dangers and the vocabulary to help them articulate their worries or fears if they feel unsafe.

By giving children the knowledge and skills to assess risky situations and by encouraging and supporting them to seek help from appropriate adults we can empower them to keep themselves safe.

What we did

The Sexual Health and Interact teams developed a working group with representation from, Open Secret, Education officers from Clackmannanshire Council & Stirling Councils and classroom teachers.

We worked together to develop a resource for the prevention of sexual abuse for use with children in primary 6 & 7.

Aim

• To promote confidence and assertiveness in children
• To promote emotional literacy in children
• To help children undertake risk assessment and understand the nature of risk taking
• To define sexual abuse for children
• To equip children to keep themselves safe from sexual abuse
• To encourage disclosure if a child feels unsafe

Approach

Feel, Think, Do is a resource that is delivered over 8 lessons. The DVD section of the programme uses a live theatre in education performance to create situations exploring issues of emotional literacy, risk taking, personal safety and sexual abuse. There are pause/ trigger points throughout the DVD which encourage discussion and provide a link to the lesson plans.

For children participating in the programme, an understanding of sex and relationships in a loving and positive context must be established before discussing sexual abuse. Therefore it is necessary that Feel, Think, Do is delivered within the context of the school's sexual health and relationship education.

For teachers involved in delivering Feel, Think, Do, training is provided to explores issues and alleviate concerns in preparation for delivering the resource with confidence in the classroom.

For the parents/carers we have created a 20 minute programme that explains the goals and methods of Feel, Think, Do. This should be shared with parents or carers before the lessons are delivered in class. The parents' DVD shows excerpts from Feel, Think, Do and interviews with parents and professionals that sets the context for the programme.

How it's working

Training was delivered for staff in Stirling and Clackmannanshire schools in Feb/March 2007, the programme is being taught in the final term following the sexual health and relationships programme.

Feel, Think, Do was made available to schools in Falkirk following the launch of their curriculum for sexual health in Oct/Nov 2007.

To book a place please contact Shona Storer.