Erin's Law:
Teaching Child Safety
On January 24, 2013 Governor Quinn signed into effect Public Act 097-1147, also known as Erin’s Law. This law requires Illinois public schools (grades PreK-12) to implement a prevention-oriented child sexual abuse program for children in age appropriate ways.
I invite you to take this opportunity to dialogue with your child through these resources. Teach your children to recognize and cope with potentially dangerous situations. It is important for children to learn the difference between safe/unsafe secrets, safe/unsafe touch, consent, the anatomical names of their private parts, and how to speak to a trusted adult in the event they need to share an unsafe secret or unsafe touch. It should be emphasized that your whole body belongs to you.
Learn more about Erin's Law at: http://www.erinslaw.org/
Private Parts are Private.
Teach children the anatomical names of private parts. It's okay to use nicknames, but they should also know the correct terms for their body parts.
Teach the difference between safe and unsafe touches.
Teach the difference between safe and unsafe secrets.
Talk about safe adults to report abuse.
What is consent and what does consent sound like?
Consent is an agreement.
It is something you and the other person both want and say yes to.
How to respond if asked for inappropriate pictures.
It's okay to say no!
You do not have to share inappropriate pictures to be liked, cool, or admired.
Sexual Abuse can happen to anyone.
Abuse can happen to anyone.
It's not your fault. If it happens to you, report it to a trusted adult right away.
Interested in viewing the lesson?
Note: Presentations are adjusted for children in age appropriate ways.
Resources used to teach are from the links below:
Learn more about keeping children safe through these books.
Readers will learn about boundaries and how to set them; ways to respect themselves and others; what to do if someone makes them feel uncomfortable or unsafe; and much more.
As children mature, the concepts of respect will transfer to how they treat others. By defining what is and isn’t appropriate and imprinting these ideas on the minds of children as they mature.
Teaching young children about body boundaries, both theirs and others, is crucial to a child’s growing sense of self, their confidence and how they should expect to be treated by others.