Educating your child about Good Touch and Bad Touch
25-04-2017 | Posted By: Admin | 6645 View(s)
Talking about sex is a taboo in most of the families. Parents think that by talking about these sensitive topics, they will expose their children to sexual things. And so, due to lack of knowledge about such issues, many children in India are subjected to sexual abuse- which includes molestation, forcible kissing and even rape. Statistics suggest that in India nearly 53% of the children are victims of sexual abuse. Many parents feel that if they are leaving their children in the hands of relatives or some other known person, then their child would be safe. But the irony is that in most of the cases the family member is a perpetrator. Therefore, it’s necessary that parents teach their child about good touch and bad touch so that their child can be safeguarded against these abuses.
Teaching your child about ‘good’ Touch
A ‘good’ touch is a touch with which a child feels comfortable and doesn’t get scared. ‘Good’ touch involves:-
⦁ High fives
⦁ Hand Shakes
⦁ A pat on the back/ shoulder
⦁ Ruffling of hair
⦁ Kiss on the forehead
Although all these are ‘good touch‘, parents must be observant, because many times abusers start with these kinds of touches to gain the confidence of the child as well as their parents. And then when they sexually abuse, the child is in a state of shock due to the confidence level built by that person, and also parents deny that something like this might have happened because they have always seen the abuser loving their child. So, it’s very important for the parents to teach their child about good touch and bad touch, and also be supportive of their child if any such abuse occurs with them.
Teaching your child about ‘bad’ touch
The parents must teach their child that any touch that makes them feel uncomfortable or scared is a ‘bad’ touch. A bad touch can be:-
⦁ Kissing
⦁ Rubbing of any part of the body
⦁ Touching the private parts of the child/ exposing the child to someone else’s private parts
⦁ Educate the children about their private parts very openly and tell them that if anybody touches them there except mommy, then they should say ‘NO’ and immediately tell somebody.
⦁ As a parent, watch out for adults who display physical affection to your child, try to be close to them physically even if it makes your child feel uncomfortable, or a person by whom your child is scared.
⦁ Teach them not to go near any stranger and accept any gift from them.
⦁ Provide your child with your address and phone number.
⦁ While attending functions, don’t leave your child alone or don’t give responsibility to other relatives for your child. Always know that mostly the abusers are known to the victims. Thus, be with them all the time.
⦁ Don’t allow any person to sleep with your child.
⦁ Teach them that nobody should ask them to show their/others’ private parts.
⦁ Teach them that if anybody shows them any nude pictures/pornography, they immediately inform someone. To educate them about the concept of ‘nude pictures’, explain them the biological anatomy.
Sexual abuse is a very serious concern which can traumatise the child all his life. Researchers have shown that children who were subjected to sexual abuse, tend to have psychological concerns in their adulthood, such as – anxiety, suicidal behaviour, low self-esteem, post-traumatic stress disorder and various other emotional difficulties. Thus, as a parent, one needs to teach the difference between a ‘good’ and a ‘bad’ touch, so that they can be prevented from such exploitation and can lead a healthy life, both physically and mentally.
