Protect Yourself Rules - New Training

[Rick_in_CA]

On 6/6/2019 at 3:52 PM, RememberSchiff said:

Regarding lesson plans, less workbook and more simulated real-world exercises please.  Talk about news stories. For a den meeting,  we traveled to different locations and practiced what do if  a stranger grabs you. YELL "HELP YOU'RE NOT MY FATHER!".  "I''M NOT GOING WITH YOU" FIGHT. YELL.

Wow. I don't really know what to say about this. I agree with your point about more simulated real-world exercises, but practicing for such an incredibly rare occurrence such as stranger kidnapping? The amount of fear of strangers that is drilled into kids now days is not healthy. They are much more likely to need the help of a stranger than to be ever threatened by one. So how to do we teach them appropriate caution with strangers without instilling in them a constant fear?

If it was my kids that and an event like that was scheduled, I think I wouldn't let them go (of course, context is everything).

[RememberSchiff]

I agree abduction by strangers are more rare, but I believe the results more tragic. 

My advice about accepting help from strangers has been the usual. Don't go with a stranger, tell the stranger to bring more help to you. There is safety in numbers. 

Hopefully I am teaching caution, not fear, what we used to call street smarts. 

My $0.02, 

[Rick_in_CA]

2 hours ago, RememberSchiff said:

I agree abduction by strangers are more rare, but I believe the results more tragic. 

My advice about accepting help from strangers has been the usual. Don't go with a stranger, tell the stranger to bring more help to you. There is safety in numbers. 

Hopefully I am teaching caution, not fear, what we used to call street smarts. 

My $0.02, 

But sometimes the correct thing to do is go with the stranger - the child might be in a dangerous area or situation.

The reality is that the classic kid snatched off the street by a pervert is really rare (some thing like 100 a year in the US. Most kidnappings of children are by family members involved in custody disputes). Kids are much more likely to be abused or killed by their parents or other relatives, hurt in car accidents, or even to suffer from a heart attack than becoming the next Elizabeth Smart. So why do we spend so much time and energy "teaching" kids about it (ok - because parents have a completely overblown fear about it)? Aren't we giving them an overblown sense of danger?

There are unfortunately too many examples of fear of strangers leading to poor or even tragic results. Kids not going for help in emergencies or when they were in trouble because that would require talking to strangers. What young kids should be taught is, when they need help, go to the first person you see and ask for help.

As I wrote earlier, it's all about context. We want to give our kids useful tools to function in a world that isn't always safe, without instilling unreasonable fears that will handicap them. Not always easy to do.

[RememberSchiff]

I hear what you are saying. There is certainly context involved in their decision making process which we should teach.  We teach scouts safety in nearly all areas even lightning where, as I understand,  yearly death and injuries for children are less numerically than stranger kidnapping. 

I have not watched all the new videos. I wonder if any scenarios depict a relative or a uniformed scout leader as the bad guy?

Edited June 12, 2019 by RememberSchiff

[RememberSchiff]

Public announcement 6/20/2019

 In an attempt to bolster their abuse-prevention efforts, the Boy Scouts of America has launched a new awareness program that features cartoon-style videos.

Targeted at children from kindergarten to sixth grade, the series of six videos aims to teach children how to recognize potentially abusive behavior and what to do if confronted by it.

The videos will be provided to more than 1.2 million Cub Scouts nationwide.

The initiative, being announced Thursday, comes as the Irving-based Boy Scouts face a potentially huge wave of abuse-related lawsuits after several states enacted laws this year making it easier for victims of long-ago abuse to file claims. The Boy Scouts acknowledge that the litigation poses a financial threat and have not ruled out seeking bankruptcy protection.

...

The videos target two age groups: kindergarten through third grade and fourth through sixth grade. Each series features a boy and girl who talk about experiencing abusive situations — for example, with a neighbor or coach — and explain how they used a set of “Protect Yourself Rules” to avoid harm.

One of the rules, in case of abuse: “Shout, run, tell.” Another rule is “Safe touch, unsafe touch” — being wary of anyone touching the child on a part of the body that their bathing suit would cover.

“Unsafe touches are scary and confusing, because they can seem playful or gentle,” says a character in the video for kindergarteners.

The videos for older children extend beyond sex abuse, addressing bullying, domestic violence and online dangers.

more at sources:

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2019/06/20/boy-scouts-sex-abuse-awareness-animated-videos/

https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2019/06/20/barbara-sinatra-center-rancho-mirage-boy-scouts-cartoon-campaign-curb-sex-abuse/1512900001/

[David CO]

On 6/11/2019 at 6:06 PM, Rick_in_CA said:

If it was my kids that and an event like that was scheduled, I think I wouldn't let them go (of course, context is everything).

I agree. 

My concern isn't with a child attending one event like this. It is having the child exposed to multiple events like this. I really don't want a kid to go through this every time he signs up for an activity at school, church, scouts, park district, YMCA, little league, etc..