Protecting Our Youth: The Critical Role of Prevention Education in Today's World

It’s in the news again.  

This time, the story comes out of Greenfield where an after-school care employee is accused of inappropriately touching at least two children. According to reports, authorities are worried that there may be more victims as the worker had access to youth through multiple organizations. 

This is exactly why we do the work that we do at the Indiana Center for Prevention of Youth Abuse & Suicide. And it’s exactly why I cringe every time families choose to “opt out” of our programming. 

While we believe that families do know what is best for their own children, we also know that the job of parenting well really does take a village. As a parent myself, I know I cannot possibly be an expert in everything. The complexity of today’s world requires so much more of parents than a generation ago. 

Before joining ICPYAS, I was unaware of the prevalence of youth sexual abuse, where statistics say 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will experience abuse before age 18 and 90% of these incidents will be from people known to the child. While I worked to create an open and honest atmosphere in our family, where questions and concerns were valued, I couldn’t possibly know the entire kit of tools that kids really need to stay safe. Just having an open environment isn’t enough. 

The articulated Child Lures curriculum taught by staff at ICPYAS allows students to have age-appropriate skills to not only protect themselves, but more importantly know what to do if something beyond their control happens.The curriculum empowers children to take control over their own bodies and destigmatizes shame that many feel around their own anatomy. 

When families opt out of our curriculum, I wonder, “How do they know what they don’t know?” 

~Erin Leraris