Act 1 is a law relating to Vermont’s sexual abuse response system that was passed in 2009 and took effect in schools as of July 2011. This law came about, in part, as a result of the shocking statistics that pointed to the widespread nature of child sexual abuse both nationally and across the state of Vermont.
One component of the law requires that all Vermont schools provide sexual abuse prevention education at every grade level (Pre-K through 12) that is both age and developmentally appropriate. In addition, school faculty and staff will be trained in a number of issues related to child sexual abuse, and similar information will be made available to parents.
In order to meet the mandate and maintain a safe school environment we will be using Vermont Family Network's, Puppets in Education and/or SecondSTEP's Child Protection Unit lessons. These lessons are trauma and victim informed.
Many components of sexual violence prevention are imbedded in other lessons addressing emotions, identifying trusted adults, and using assertive voices. into these components are embedded throughout guidance lessons and from classroom teachers.
What is covered:
Personal boundaries - identifying private parts and using dictionary terms, empathy, communication skills, emotions, healthy relationships, identifying trusted adults. It is also important to note that many of these topics are covered with our SEL curriculum as well as with other lessons from Health and Guidance classes.
What is NOT covered:
Many caregivers are concerned this is about sex or puberty. It is not. We do use terms to describe private parts so children are aware of the proper terms to use and know where those parts are on self and others. Rule of thumb, any part of a person's body covered by a bathing suite.