How to Talk to Your Child About Body Safety
Starting conversations about body safety can feel difficult, but these simple, age-appropriate strategies make it natural and empowering.
Body safety is not one conversation. It is a habit of talking, repeated often enough that a child never has to work up the courage to start it.
Use the correct anatomical names from the beginning. A child who has words for their own body can describe what happened to them, and an adult who hears those words knows the child has been taught to speak plainly about it.
Keep each conversation short and ordinary. Safety talked about at bath time or in the car lands better than a single serious sit-down, which tells a child that the subject is frightening before you have said anything at all.
Key Takeaway
Simple, clear conversations - repeated regularly - are the most effective tool we have for keeping children safe.
