TALKING ABOUT TOUCHING Overview
A Personal Safety Curriculum
The TALKING ABOUT TOUCHING curriculum teaches children simple rules to guide them toward safe decision making. This research-based, teacher-friendly program explores well-being in a variety of situations and teaches:
- Safety rules about cars, bicycles, and pedestrians.
- What to do in the presence of guns or other weapons.
- How to respond to a fire emergency.
- Knowing when to ask permission from a caregiver.
- The definition of a safe touch and how to respond to unwanted touches.
- Standing up for safety in an assertive manner.
- Asking for help in uncomfortable and possibly dangerous situations.
Safety Skills Prevent Victimization
Incidences of child abuse know no borders, boundaries, or incomes. They occur in every class, culture, and ethnic group. Abuse isn't the only danger facing children. Harm can come from a variety of potentially dangerous situations—including fires, traffic, and proximity to firearms.
Classroom use of the TALKING ABOUT TOUCHING program provides children with the safety skills they need to prevent victimization.
Program Components and Support
The 15- to 30-minute TALKING ABOUT TOUCHING lessons are taught in order, which builds knowledge sequentially. The program shows staff how to identify behaviors that may indicate a child is being abused or harassed as well as how to respond to disclosure of abuse.
Our program support specialists will answer your questions, help you work through a problem, and provide strategies as you launch or evaluate the program—all free of charge for the life of the program. We also offer exceptional training for educators and trainers.
Skills
- Assertiveness
- Decision making
- Asking for help
- Reporting
Grade Levels
Pre/K–Grade 3
Format
- Photo-lesson cards
- Book and songs
- Safety-step posters
- Video (Pre/K only)
- What Do I Say Now? Video (also available in Spanish)