Keeping Kids in the Know

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When the issue of child sexual abuse first came out of the shadows in the 70s and early 80s, personal safety education focused on giving children the message that strangers held the greatest potential to do them harm. Evolving knowledge about the dynamics of sexual abuse has significantly changed the approach.

“Teaching kids about ‘stranger danger’ is long a thing of the past because we know today that most children who are victimized know the perpetrator,” states Noni Classen, Director of Education for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.

Indeed, numbers collected by Statistics Canada in 2003, indicate that of all reported child sexual assaults, 86% were perpetrated by an individual known to the victim. Generally, the younger the child, the less likely victimization by a stranger will occur.

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection, a charitable non-profit, runs the national school-based safety program Kids in the Know (KIK). It’s a curriculum-based approach to teaching personal safety strategies to students from kindergarten to high school. Each year’s module builds on the ones in previous years and reflects the issues and risks present for the developmental stage of the student.

The program originated in 2002 in Winnipeg, the Centre’s headquarters, and is based on research carried out by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in the United States. Although the program is school-based, parents are encouraged to play a role as well, reinforcing lessons through the use of online materials with their child.

Lessons must reflect complex dynamics of abuse
Aside from the outdated “stranger danger” message, other aspects of personal safety education have changed as well. Classen states that today’s approach includes addressing the complex dynamics of victimization. That means recognizing the victim’s feelings of guilt and shame as well as the manipulative tactics that perpetrators use against them. These tactics are often in play long before a physical act occurs. Further, to be successful, explains Classen, lessons need to reflect the context of the four environments that children are regularly exposed to: home, school, community and the Internet.

Using multiple, tailor-made teaching tools such as role-playing, storybooks, comics, puppets and online activities, KIK teaches students seven root safety strategies as they apply to the four environments.

The strategies include concepts such as how to trust one’s instincts and when to share information with parents and caregivers. It also tackles concepts such as dignity and respect, which relate to positive self-esteem—a protective factor against abuse.

The program’s unique advantage is that it taps into current trends and risks gathered from research by another Canadian Centre for Child Protection program, Cybertip.ca. As Canada’s national tipline for reporting online child sexual exploitation, it employs sophisticated data gathering technology to track victimization trends.

Classen contends that the Net has raised new safety challenges, stating that most kids have completely integrated technology into their lives but that caregivers and educators have found themselves in a constant state of trying to catch up.

“The root strategies to personal safety are the same regardless of environment but how we apply them to the Internet is ever changing,” explains Classen. “KIK’s link to Cybertip.ca is crucial because it means that we’re in a position to inform educators and parents about trends in online victimization. From what we’re seeing on the front lines, we can’t afford to be playing catch-up.”

One-time blast of information not effective
The evolution of personal safety education has also seen a rejection of the “one-time blast” of personal safety lessons that educators relied on in the past.

According to Classen, “To truly integrate the information into the students’ lives, research has shown that repetition of developmentally targeted lessons is necessary. Education is also more effective if it is positive and empowering rather than using the fear-based tone of yesterday’s “don’t talk to strangers” approach.

She adds that the lessons must also be specific and outline various abuse scenarios. Students then need realistic strategies to avoid risks or seek help if abuse has occurred.

KIK in action
Olga Wyshnowsky believes passionately that learning personal safety strategies is a basic life skill and should be part of regular school curriculum. She oversees personal safety education for Winnipeg School Division, the first school district in Canada to implement KIK.

“It’s a very positive, affirming approach of teaching personal safety that students easily respond to,” states Wyshnowsky. “Teachers also love it because its design and structure make it very easy to implement in the classroom.”

That ease of implementation is the result of extensive collaboration between the Canadian Centre for Child Protection and Wyshnowsky. The Winnipeg School Division was instrumental in the development of KIK, working alongside Centre staff to ensure the program would be successful in a school setting.

Kids in the Know is now fully integrated into all 77 schools in the Winnipeg School Division as part of the health and physical education curriculum.

Joanne Rusen is the guidance counselor at one of those schools. école Stanley Knowles School was the first to implement KIK in 2004. Rusen believes the program has made a real impact at her school where the students easily recognize Baxter Bunny and Zoe & Molly Online, featured characters in the program. She’s seen the effects in the real world. Ironically, one example involved the rare incident of strangers approaching a group of students.

“A few of our students were followed around the neighbourhood by an unidentified van one day,” recalls Rusen, “and they responded perfectly. They immediately went to a place of safety and informed their parents. The parents then contacted the authorities as well as the school. Everyone knew what to do.”

Most significantly, it has given students the language and confidence to disclose situations that concern them. States Rusen, “It reduces the shame and guilt that often goes along with the subject of abuse. It teaches children self-respect and instills confidence in recognizing what feels right and what doesn’t.”

Presently, school districts in five provinces have incorporated Kids in the Know. The Canadian Centre for Child Protection hopes to see KIK in every school across Canada and is making efforts to promote the program nation-wide. For more information and online resources visit www.kidsintheknow.ca.

Deborah Zanke is a writer for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, the parent organization of Kids in the Know.