Personal Body Safety Fifth Grade

Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect

Purpose of the lesson: Students will gain knowledge and decision making skills to help keep them safe at home, school, and in the community.

But, there are some adults who don’t treat children well. We expect adults to treat children in a way that will help them grow up to be healthy, happy adults. Most adults do this. You’ve probably heard about situations where adults do bad things to children on the news, or portrayed in TV shows. But, there are some adults who don’t treat children well.

This lesson is not to cause worry, but to give you the ability and confidence to keep yourself as safe as possible.

Say No! Review from 3rd grade: Get away Tell an adult 1.When you were in third grade, you learned the 3 rules of Personal Body Safety. 1.Say NO!, but use the words you’re most comfortable using. For example; stop it, don’t do that, quit it. Make the tone of your voice sound like you mean it. 2. Get away the best you can. 3. Tell an adult. Who are some adults you could tell? Only an adult can stop another adult’s behavior. Tell an adult

You have personal rights: You have the right to: Be clothed, fed, and housed Not to be beaten up by an adult Have your medical needs taken care of Appropriate supervision Use the bathroom by yourself Be alone when you take your clothes off New information for 5th grade is that you have personal rights. We’ll talk more about the first 4 rights in a minute. If you are part of a large family and there is only one bathroom in your house, your family may have figured out a system where people share the bathroom at the same time. For example; if someone is in the shower, another person might be at the sink. If this system begins to bother you, talk to your parents about it. It may mean that you’ll have to get up 15 minutes earlier to use the bathroom by yourself, but you do have that right. If you go to the doctor for a physical (like to play a sport), and you have to put on a gown for the examine, you’ll notice that the doctor or nurse steps out of the room to allow you time to change. That’s because of this right.

Neglect: Neglect is when your parents or guardians do not provide you with: Proper clothing Food Shelter Supervision Medical care 1.You might not get to buy the kind of clothes you wear, eat the foods you’d like to eat, or live in the kind of house you think you should live in, but the basics do need to be provided for you. 2. Parents need to provide you with supervision (a sitter) if you’re going to be left alone for a long period of time. Law states that you shouldn’t be left alone if you’re younger than 8 years old. You shouldn’t be left in charge of younger siblings unless you’re 13 years old or older. 3.Parents can’t be expected to take you to the doctor every time you don’t feel well, but if you have a serious injury, you need to have it taken care of by a doctor.

Physical Abuse: When an adult touches your body in a way that causes physical harm such as- Severe bruises Burns\broken bones Cuts Spanking isn’t considered physical abuse UNLESS it results in marks. There’s nothing you could do that would make it okay for an adult to harm you physically.

Sexual Abuse: If an adult touches you or asks you to touch them, or look at them on the parts of their body that are private (those covered by a bathing suit) you have the right to say NO! The only time this might be acceptable is if you are taken to the doctor or nurse for a medical or health reason. The way to know if a situation is okay is by your gut instinct. If an adult asks you to do something and you get a knot in your stomach, or the idea gives you the creeps, you have the right to say NO!

Sexual Harassment: Dirty jokes teasing in a sexual way Inappropriate touching Inappropriate pictures Sexual harassment is unwelcomed behavior that interferes with your right to learn, work, achieve, or participate in school activities in a comfortable and supportive atmosphere. Examples would be dirty jokes, inappropriate pictures, teasing that is sexual in nature.

McGruff the crime dog will take us through each of 3 situations we’ve learned about: Neglect Physical abuse Sexual abuse Let’s watch a video with McGruff the crime dog

Remember: It’s not your fault!

Let’s see what you’ve learned today … In each of the following situation, decide if the situation is okay, or not okay. If it’s not okay, what could you do? What’s it an example of? We’ll read each situation together. If you think it’s okay, show by “thumbs up”. If you think the situation is NOT okay, show “thumbs down”. If it’s not okay, tell what it’s an example of, and what you think the person should do.

1. One of your friends comes to school with a black eye 1. One of your friends comes to school with a black eye. He tells you his step-dad punished him because he forgot to walk the dog. He asks you not to tell anyone. 2. A boy’s younger sister ran out into a busy street after a ball. Her mother yells at her and spanks her.

3. Your coach gives you a pat on the back, puts his arm around your shoulder and says you’re playing a great game. 4. Your neighbor asks you to let her take pictures of you with her new camera. She tells you to get in poses that seem strange. She says everyone will love the pictures!

5. You twist your ankle playing ball 5. You twist your ankle playing ball. When you ask your mom to take you to the doctor, she says to rest it for a while and then she’ll decide whether to take you or not. 6. Your friend tells you she gets locked in her bedroom for the entire evening whenever she brings home a test with a bad grade. She’s not allowed to eat dinner and can’t come out of her room until the next morning.