Our Recommendation

The Approach we Recommend for Teaching Sexual Abuse Prevention

Train parents with backup from Catholic Schools

• Train parents to be the primary educators of their children for sexual abuse prevention, providing them with the resources and encouragement needed to do so.
• Educate parents about the specific ways they can help to prevent child sexual abuse, including signs to look for in abused children and the proper channels for reporting suspected incidents.
• For parents who are unable to teach their children about this, invest in developing an optional program and offer it after school or other non-school hours using certified professional instructors, teaching a curriculum that bears an endorsement of authentic Catholic teaching

Benefits compared to TAT

• Aligns with Catholic teaching about the parent being the primary educator and ensures a much more collaborative process between parents and educators
• Equips parents with ways they can safeguard their children, providing additional protection against sexual abuse
• Engages parents in the process of looking out for all children who may be abused, not just their own
• Does not take away from current academic classroom time
• Does not require Catholic school teachers to teach something they struggle with because they do not support the curriculum

Currently, we have not found a Catholic sexual abuse prevention developed for use by parents or in Catholic schools.  There are some solid non-Catholic but Christian programs that could serve as a good basis for developing a Catholic one.  We are considering the possibility of having such a curriculum developed.