Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 4, 2009
Media inquiries:
Dorothy Dubia, Public Relations Manager
ddubia@cfchildren.org
206-438-6694 or 206-300-2933 (cell)
Violence Prevention Expert Hails State Proposal to Address Abuse
SEATTLE, WA—A nationally noted expert on violence prevention said today that the introduction of a bill in the Washington State Legislature that could pave the way for child abuse prevention programs to be implemented in schools statewide is “an important step toward making our children safer.”
Joan Duffell is executive director of Committee for Children, a Seattle-based nonprofit dedicated to fostering the social and emotional development, safety, and well-being of children through education and advocacy. Duffell said school-based personal safety education programs, if developed and implemented with care, can keep children safer.
“We know through research that children can use personal safety skills successfully if they are taught concrete concepts in a clear, developmentally appropriate way and are given adequate time to learn and practice them,” Duffell said. “We’ve been developing such research-based programs for 30 years,” she added.
Sponsored by Senators Joe McDermott, D-34th, and Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-36th, the legislation (SB 5935) calls on the Office of Public Instruction to consult with professionals in the field of child abuse prevention and interested organizations to establish a statewide child abuse prevention program to be incorporated into existing programs at each public school. “We look forward to supporting this effort,” Duffell said.
“Senators McDermott and Kohl-Welles are right on with the bill’s provisions, which require any programs used in the schools to use proven, research-based curricula found effective in the prevention of child abuse, be provided to all students in an age-appropriate manner, and educate adults to identify and report suspected cases of abuse,” Duffell said. “These have been the hallmarks of the programs we at Committee for Children have developed over the past 30 years.” Committees for Children’s evidence-based programs reach more than 9 million children in 25,000 schools around the world.
The nonprofit’s first program, the TALKING ABOUT TOUCHING curriculum, focuses on child sexual abuse prevention and was first introduced in 1979. Based on research, the curriculum teaches children simple rules to guide them toward safe decision making and trains parents and teachers in the prevention of child sexual abuse.
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