7 Ways To Protect Your Disabled Child From Sexual Abuse
While a parent may have the biggest influence on a child’s life when it comes to educating about healthy sexual development and reducing the risk of sexual abuse, many adults also play an impactful role—especially teachers. They have the potential to be an important safety net for kids who are at high risk for sexual abuse at home.
In the United States, each state has laws that require certain professionals (like teachers) to report suspicions of child abuse. Learn the laws in your state and see what your responsibility is, legally speaking. These, in addition to your school’s policies, will give you a good baseline on what to do when you have concerns that a child is being abused.
But what else can you do? Are there ways that you can recognize sexual abuse? Can you create a classroom environment that reduces the risk? How do you know what to
H2- KNOW THE FACTS
There are a lot of myths about child sexual abuse, so it’s important that you know the facts. The majority of children and teens are most likely to be sexually abused by someone they know and trust. Too often the abuse happens within their own family. This means that school may be one of the only safe places for them, whether you realize it or not. Sexual abuse affects kids of all races, religions, socioeconomic levels, and ages. If you don’t think it’s happening to children who attend your school, you’re wrong. It’s also important for you to know the signs, including looking for the possibility that a child is engaging in harmful sexual behavior and may be at risk for becoming a perpetrator of sexual abuse.
Simply arming yourself with accurate information can make a big difference in your classroom and school. When you encounter misinformation, you can step in and correct the inaccuracy. This will also help you reduce the stigma surrounding this topic and make it an appropriate topic to address with your colleagues.
LEARN ABOUT AGE-APPROPRIATE SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT
Depending on the age and maturity of a child, you can be sensitive to patterns of healthy sexual development and what’s typical for students within the age you teach. This may help you recognize sexual abuse, since exhibiting unhealthy or harmful sexual behaviors is a sign the child may have been sexually abused. You can also reduce the risk of a child acting on harmful sexual behaviors if you can recognize the signs. We have blog posts with information about typical sexual behavior for children ages 0—2, 3—6, 6—9, and 10—12. Keep in mind that not all children will develop at the same pace and things like maturity, mental or physical disabilities, and the environment where they’re being raised may impact their development as well.
When you are armed with the knowledge of what’s age-appropriate for your students, it will make it all the easier to spot when someone is not at the same level. This in and of itself is not a sign of sexual abuse, but when it’s combined with other factors it may lead you to ask questions, report, or advocate for a child who is in need of your help.
ENCOURAGE EMOTIONAL REGULATION
There are certain risk factors that raise the possibility of a child being sexually abused. Several of these factors may be combatted if a child learns emotional regulation. Emotional regulation is the ability to respond to the emotions felt in any given situation in a healthy and socially acceptable way. As adults, we practice this skill often, but it’s something that children need to practice in order to develop. Responses such as tantrums, shouting, or meltdowns are signals that a child is having difficulty regulating their emotions. Depending on the age of your students you can implement policies in your class to help them have the time and space to work through overwhelming feelings.
Some ideas are giving them “alone time” to think about what they’re feeling and how they can deal with those emotions in an appropriate way for the classroom (make sure this doesn’t feel like a punishment or it could exacerbate the problem). You could utilize our Wheel of Emotions and help them identify their feelings so they can talk about them, or you can ask them to write down what they’re feeling as an essay or a story, depending on their age.
Giving kids a safe way to experience and resolve their emotional responses is not only an important life skill, but research has also shown that it will help prevent them from being sexually abused or sexually abusing someone else.
ENCOURAGE AND SUPPORT SCHOOL POLICIES
Most schools have policies in place for things like sexual harassment between students as well as policies dictating interactions between teachers and students. Encourage open discussion and understanding of these policies so that everyone (both students and staff) knows and understands both their rights and ways to respect the rights of others. If your school doesn’t have these types of policies in place, see what you can do about getting them implemented.
Many places require teachers to go through training or receive additional education about sexual abuse. These can often be emotionally overwhelming and leave you feeling hopeless about being able to ever make a difference. One way you can supplement this training with more hopeful and actionable information is by utilizing our classes.