Keeping Them Safe

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This episode speaks about the core tenets of the programs of KEEPING THEM SAFE. We talk about what matters in the development of programs and why and what the program is intended to communicate and provoke. 

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In this episode we look at some suggestions based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children to help school and organization staff and volunteers work with parents to establish the safest possible environment for children during the school year. The principles cited by the UN can help focus the efforts of concerned adults and guide the development of policies, procedures, and practices that work. 

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In this episode we discover some very clear, very specific ways that these potentially risky behaviors show up in reality. We see, from the mouths of predators, how they use the activities that we view as simple and normal to develop trust with children, parents, and communities. 

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This episode reminds us that the effort to address child sexual abuse as a public problem or a public health problem is not new - even if it seems it might be so. How this became a public problem and when that happened can help us understand why it appears to be taking so long to stop it from happening. 

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There are a few behaviors that we know are part of the predators grooming process. These behaviors have been identified for us by those who use them to groom children. In this episode we reinforce three of the behaviors and remind ourselves that is takes time and practice to be able to fully recognize the behaviors and stop them when they show up in the environment. 

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Are you the chaperone for the school field trip or the sponsor that is traveling on the bus to music competition or the parent who volunteers to ride the bus with the football team or cheerleaders? This episode is an opportunity for you to consider what it takes to ensure that the environment on these occasions and others where you are responsible for young people are safe for all involved. 

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This episode tells the story of a priest's seduction of young men in the parish where he served and how he was able to accomplish this under the watchful eye of parents and other adults. Sharon's family is a part of this story. She knows everyone involved and has had the opportunity to interview the principal complainant and others about what happened. It is a careful and open look at how it happens in a community and how careful and crafty the priest was in making sure he was protected and, at the same time, was able to satisfy his sexual needs with these young men. 

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Most people assume that the majority of perpetrators of child sexual abuse are men and while that is accurate, at least 20% of all child sexual abuse is committed by women and almost 80% of the time it is a biological parent - a mother - who is the offender. This episode starts to deal with the unique issues of discovering abuse by a female parent or sibling and what we know and don't know about how this happens. 

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Many people think that Sex Offender registries and background checks can solve the problem of potentially risky adults. However, that is not the case. They do have their place in the entire process of creating safe environments and in this episode, we talk about what to do with the information from both sources in efforts to keep children safe from predators.