‘Parents’ Bill of Rights’ puts a halt on decades-long child sexual abuse prevention program | NC Newsline

Safe Touch: A Halt in Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program

This report was first published by the UNC Media Hub.

When Alex Mavrogenis enters a classroom, she steels herself for a fight against a near-invisible crisis: child sexual abuse. The Orange County Rape Crisis Center’s Youth Education Program Coordinator comes armed with “life-saving information” — accompanied by puppets, chants, videos and a bright smile.

Mavrogenis is running Safe Touch, a child sexual abuse prevention program designed for elementary school students. For more than 40 years, the program has partnered with two local public school districts — Orange County Schools (OCS) and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) — to bring children information to help keep them safe from sexual abuse.

But now, for the first time in decades, all that has come to a halt.

What is Safe Touch?

Established in the 1980s, Safe Touch was developed in response to requests from local guidance counselors seeking support for addressing an influx of student sexual abuse disclosures.

Children across the country are abused at a staggering rate. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys in the United States experience child sexual abuse.

At Safe Touch, statistics like these inform the curriculum in order to reach children at every age and grade level. Students learn to differentiate between safe, unsafe and confusing touches, and they practice strategies of seeking help if they’re touched in an unsafe way.

As students in OCS and CHCCS districts move up each grade, Safe Touch content builds on previously-introduced concepts, and evolves to suit their development.

“The messaging is the same,” Mavrogenis said, “but the situations expand to adjust to their real world experiences.”

Once they reach middle school, students will have learned advanced concepts including online safety, understanding and preventing sexual bullying and how to help peers who are survivors of abuse.

For younger grades, puppet shows, songs and chants create a giggly crowd of eager participants. For older students, who are often more self-conscious and nervous to share, Safe Touch uses animated videos to appeal to their tech-savvy generation.

Safe Touch also provides a rare opportunity for students to disclose instances of abuse they have faced. The staff is trained to respond to student disclosures, and to recognize and respond to signs of potential abuse (“red flags”) in student behavior. The initiative has been successful. In the 2013-2014 school year alone, Mavrogenis said the organization followed up on 12 direct student disclosures of abuse and about 120 red flags, or signs of potential abuse.

Catching child sexual abuse early can be life-saving. According to the CDC, experiencing sexual abuse during childhood can result in various short- and long-term physical, mental and behavioral health consequences, ranging from physical injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, to depression and increased risk of suicide.

“Interrupting and responding to even one case of childhood sexual abuse is something of a measurable success,” Mavrogenis said.

In recent years, Mavrogenis said Safe Touch educators have been able to appear in every classroom of the 18 public elementary schools they work with. In a typical year, she said the program can reach more than 14,000 students.

This year, they haven’t appeared in any of those classrooms.

S.B. 49: A sudden stop

In September, as Mavrogenis began planning for the school year, she received emails saying that Safe Touch’s partner school districts had placed a temporary pause on the program in order to address the Parents’ Bill of Rights.

The new law establishes new guidelines for age-appropriate instruction: “Instruction on gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality shall not be included in the curriculum provided in grades kindergarten through fourth grade, regardless of whether the information is provided by school personnel or third parties.”

Sen. Amy Galey (R-Alamance), who sponsored S.B. 49, posted floor remarks addressing the “controversy” surrounding the policy on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“The whole point of the bill is that parents in North Carolina should be empowered to raise their children the way that they see fit in their family without being questioned or interrogated, or undermined by the state of North Carolina,” she said.

Galey did not respond to requests for comment.

Critics of the legislation include Gov. Roy Cooper who vetoed it in July. The legislature overrode his veto.

“Parents are the most essential educators for their children and their involvement must be encouraged, but this bill will scare teachers into silence by injecting fear and uncertainty into classrooms,” Cooper wrote in a statement. “This ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill also hampers the important and sometimes lifesaving role of educators as trusted advisers when students have nowhere else to turn.”

Carolyn Halpern, a UNC-Chapel Hill professor and chair of the department of maternal and child health at Gillings School of Global Public Health, said evidence does not support the law’s suggestion that conversations about gender and sexuality are not “age-appropriate” for young children.

“There are studies that have looked at young kids in that age range, and how they respond to gender conversations,” she said. “And the evidence is positive — it’s that they understand it, that it broadens their understanding of people and gender roles and so forth.

“It has to be obviously age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate. But still, it’s possible to do it well, and to be effective in a positive way. And I don’t know of any studies that show any harm from those kinds of programs.”

For Halpern, this “murky” policy language results from a lack of knowledge on the subject matter.

“I guess what’s frustrating is that policy gets passed without the proper homework to understand what the evidence actually is,” she said. “I mean, most of the legislature are not

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

   • Target 3.7: By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programs.
   • Indicator 3.7.2: Adolescent birth rate (aged 10-14 years; aged 15-19 years) per 1,000 women in that age group.

   The issue of child sexual abuse prevention addressed in the article is directly related to SDG 3, which aims to promote good health and well-being. Target 3.7 specifically focuses on ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including education and information. The article highlights the Safe Touch program, which provides children with information to keep them safe from sexual abuse. This program aligns with the target of providing education and information to prevent sexual abuse among children. The indicator mentioned in the article is the adolescent birth rate, which is not directly related to the issue of child sexual abuse prevention but is an indicator used to measure progress towards achieving Target 3.7.

2. SDG 4: Quality Education

   • Target 4.7: By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.
   • Indicator 4.7.1: Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies, (b) curricula, (c) teacher education, and (d) student assessment.

   The issue of child sexual abuse prevention is also connected to SDG 4, which focuses on quality education. Target 4.7 specifically emphasizes the importance of promoting sustainable development through education, including education for sustainable development and human rights. The Safe Touch program mentioned in the article aligns with this target as it aims to provide children with knowledge and skills to keep them safe from sexual abuse. The indicator mentioned in the article is the extent to which global citizenship education and education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in national education policies, curricula, teacher education, and student assessment. While not directly related to child sexual abuse prevention, this indicator reflects the broader goal of promoting sustainable development through education.

Behold! This splendid article springs forth from the wellspring of knowledge, shaped by a wondrous proprietary AI technology that delved into a vast ocean of data, illuminating the path towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Remember that all rights are reserved by SDG Investors LLC, empowering us to champion progress together.

Source: ncnewsline.com

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