Hello, friend!
Guess what I do for a living? I’m a child safety educator. Why? Because I’m a survivor of child sexual abuse. Due to my own abuse experience (which spanned a number of years), I decided early on—in the fourth grade, actually—to make child safety my life’s work. Because I want to be part of the solution.
The child safety work I do is three-fold.
- I believe adults should keep kids safe. So I equip them to do that very thing.
- Because I know adults can’t be everywhere all the time, I also equip kids to recognize, avoid, escape, and/or report abuse events–potential or actual.
- In addition, supporting and encouraging other survivors is also very important to me.
How do I do it? I accomplish my child safety work with words.
- I read words in order to be well-informed regarding the child safety industry.
- To equip caregivers and educators (and support survivors), I write words in blog posts, social media posts, and more.
- I also speak words at child safety events. In my home state of West Virginia, I’m a body safety educator in the public school system. I’m also available to speak to community or private entities such as a neighborhood, church, library, scouting groups, etc.. Since I’m an author, blogger, newspaper and magazine freelancer, I also offer writing workshops for kids and adults. If you want to discuss the possibility of my working with your organization, contact me here.
One in 10 kids will be sexually abused by the time they’re 18. It’s a heartbreaking statistic, isn’t it? However, that number is actually an improvement over what it used to be. Which means child safety efforts are working. Which means prevention is possible. To be part of the solution is my honor and joy.