Simple Ways to Molest-Proof Your Child
66Prevent Sexual Abuse
There are simple things every parent can do to reduce the odds that their child will be molested. Of course, nothing is fool-proof, because children are children, and child abusers are smarter and more cunning than children. But doing THESE THINGS will stack the odds in your child's favor:
- Do not shy away from appropriate touch. Children need physical contact, and if they don't get it from their parents, they are more vulnerable to finding it elsewhere.
- Have a real relationship with your children. Play with them, listen to them, spend a lot of time with them. The more attention they receive from you, and the stronger your relationship with them, the less needy they will be and the less likely they will be to allow a stranger to attempt to fulfill that need inappropriately.
- Never forbid them from saying no to an adult. Some families teach the maxim, "Never say no to an adult."; That is extremely unhealthy. There are times when children should say no to adults. Teach them that they need to follow the rules at home, when the instructions given are moral and legal. Allow them to object to you, and then respond to them with reason, within the context of dialogue. Then follow through on helping your children to obey you, with loving firmness. But do NOT forbid them from objecting to you. Children who never disobey are more likely to obey a predator.
- Teach them to make choices from infancy. Even infants can begin to indicate preferences- at first with cries, gestures and eye gaze; later by touching, and grabbing; and finally with words. Give them lots of choices between acceptable options, and honor their choices by giving them what they want. Children need lots of practice in making good choices to be able to choose to run away from a molester, to choose to seek help by confiding in an adult. And they need a LONG HISTORY of adults listening and acting on their choices in order to believe that they will be heard, and that adults will take them seriously and help them.
- Do not allow a parade of people into your family.Some families customarily allow new people to easily acquire the status of a family member. Do not do this. Distinguish between family members and nonfamily members. Make that distinction known to your children, and assign higher status to actual family members. Many child predators insinuate themselves into families before preying on children. They often build up trust within the families, and establish warm relationships with children before they act.
- Make sure your children have access to trusted adults, especially women. Do not socially isolate your children. They need contact with people outside your family, and they may feel more comfortable confiding to an adult outside of the family, such as a club leader or school nurse.
- Know the red flag behaviors of potential molesters. Adults who seem to prefer the company of children, who tend to follow children into isolated parts of buildings, who allow children to do things that their parents would not allow- these are red flag behaviors. Take them seriously.
- If your child brings up sexuality in a conversation, respond calmly. If you react with alarm, then your child may not feel comfortable coming to you if they have been approached by a molester, or if they have been abused. Be willing to answer their questions about sex, and to dialogue calmly about sexuality.
- Do not allow sex play. It is normal for young children to want to explore their bodies, and additionally to be curious about the bodies of other children. It is not normal for these episodes to continue over a long period of time. If you find out that your child is engaging in sex play, calmly explain to them the principles of modesty, and tell them to be sure not to play like that again. Be careful NOT to over-react. They are innocent, and curiosity is normal. They just need to learn about modesty in the same way that they learn everything else- from us teaching them!
- Never allow pornography of any kind into your home. Ever. If it is currently in your home, get it out and destroy it. All pornography is bad. If your children find it, they can become overly "sexualized" and may seek out sexual experiences with other people. This makes them vulnerable to a life of sex addiction- even if they are never abused. Additionally, it makes them vulnerable to sex abusers, who often use pornography in their interactions with children. Do not allow your children to become accustomed to seeing pornography. You may think they won't find it, BUT THEY WILL- and they won't tell you that they know where your stash is, or where your spouse's stash is.
- Into the Light: Ending Cycles of Abuse
- What to do if you find CHILD pornography in your home
- Stop Child Porn
- An Open Letter to Catholic Priests
- Child Pornography is Wrong- Even the Children are in their Upper Teens
- Child Pornography is Wrong- Even in a Person only Has ONE Picture
- Child Pornography is Wrong- Even if the Children Portrayed Appear to be Enjoying it
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Comments
Good job Juana! This is the 10 Commandments of good parenting.
I have never come across articles like this on the mainstream parenting sites, yet this is SUCH AN IMPORTANT TOPIC. Thank you for bringing it up and writing a great article.










caspar says:
2 years ago
Great hub, Juana, words of wisdom. I was taught to be unquestioningly obedient as a child, and I believe this contributed to the ease with which I was abused by a relative. I've always encouraged my own children not to be afraid to question adult authority. They haven't turned into disobedient monsters, but I feel certain that they would be quite confident in saying NO to inappropriate behaviour from an adult, and in telling me about it. When I was a child I didn't feel able to do that.