The difference between inappropriate and grooming behaviours
As parents, educators, and caregivers, distinguishing between inappropriate behaviours and grooming tactics is crucial for protecting children against child sexual abuse.
Inappropriate behaviour can often be a boundary-crossing incident...
With Christmas fast approaching, some of you may be feeling a bit stressed as to how to manage and cope with the often pushy and seemingly well-meaning family members, who also know how to push your buttons and have certain expectations. You know the one’s I’m talking about???
But...
Setting up your child’s new smartphone or device for success and safety
Whether it’s your child’s first phone or their next device, it is super important that we don’t give our kids a smartphone or device with access to every danger on the internet, without putting up...
Not all child sexual abuse physically hurts the child… and not all children realise they are being abused!
Before you skip reading or get ‘icked’ out by this topic, I need you to realise WHY knowing this information is so vitally important in helping our kids stay safe and...
I remember when I was returning to work after my daughter was born and the emotional roller coaster I went through in finding an early childhood centre. I had so much mum-guilt in needing to put her into childcare that I cried for days.
At that stage, I was not even a police officer, I was just...
Parent Question: I am thinking of enrolling my son in an organised group activity, but I am worried about the safety aspects for him whilst being around adults we don’t know personally. Is there any way we can make it safer so he can still enjoy being involved in group activities?
Sports...
I’m going to be honest with you all…I have some regrets.
If you haven’t read or heard my story, I joined the police when my daughter was just shy of 2 years old and became a detective not long after she turned 6 years old.
I heard and saw A LOT of things that have...
Have you ever replayed a moment where you wish you had spoken up and said something but at the time you didn’t know what to say or you were too shocked to say something?
It’s not easy to call out inappropriate behaviours, especially when it comes to other adults or family members, but...
Healthy relationships and what they look and feel like was NOT a topic of discussion when I was growing up. Like most people, my experiences with romantic relationships were through watching my parent’s relationships and how they interacted together.
As you can imagine, with a family of...
I know friends, this is a hard one to hear but there is ACTUAL research that has now been released which has proven that ‘sharenting’ your kid’s photos online is putting you and them at risk.
The research was conducted by the Australian Institute of Criminology in conjunction...
I grew up in a blended family. My parents separated when I was a young child and I grew up with step-parents.
With that being said, there was a lot less blended families when I was growing up than there is now. Blended families are a much more normal family structure than when I was younger and...
A child that does NOT feel safe will not disclose abuse.
At times I think we forget this FACT in our goals to protect and help kids.
As a specialist child interviewer, I was very aware that the time and process prior to the child's interview was equally, if not more important than the...