Search Results for: blog the bitss to teach children about protective behaviors

Teachable Moments in Protective Play.

Protective play is about finding teachable moments, during play, to introduce the five BITSS elements of protective behaviors. BITSS play can help you to protect your child by introducing talk about Body Ownership, Intuition, Touch, Say No and Support Networks before anything horrible happens to your child. I run Protective Play parties to teach parents how easy it is to do. I take a stock of everyday toys with me and we sit and play as if kids would. During the play I coach in how find and grab that teachable moment and mentor the participants through play tutoring. It … Continue reading →

Umbrellas and Parrots to Help Play Protect our Children. Thanks Mary Poppins.

I’m back and how I have missed my friends at families.com. However, my recent Protective Play tour to Maryborough was Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I was guest speaker at the breakfast launch of Sexual Violence Awareness month and facilitated a four-hour training in the BITSS model of Protective Behaviors. Twenty-one social science professionals attended the training and we played with everyday toys and household items in an effort to discover novel ways to instill protective behavior teachable moments into families’ homes. Of most interest to me was the revisit of the umbrella as a protective play tool. Umbrellas are useful for protection from … Continue reading →

A Chatterbox, Chatterbitss Activity, for Protective Play

Do you remember those paper folded, two hand, finger manipulated, schoolyard toys that we used to terrorize each other with? Four different colored faces, numbers on the inside that opened up to the most derogatory sayings the author could think of, e.g., “You love (the nerdiest boy in the class)” or “You smell.” We used to call them Chatterboxes. Who would have thought that such a simple, hand made toy could become a powerful teaching tool. Instead of Chatterbox, I call them Chatterbitts and use them to teach protective behaviors. I put protective statements, or reminders, under the inside triangular … Continue reading →

Thera Pea Dolls: At home Protective Play That Won’t Break the Bank.

Thera Pea Dolls are a tool I use to teach Protective Behaviors. In my role as a child therapist and Protective Behavior consultant, I am always on the look out for different ideas to present as teaching utensils for parents to use with their own children if they want to. I like to suggest protective play resources that are either free or take little expense to make. One of the favored resources I use is Thera Pea Dolls. The dolls are simply a stuffed body outline that can be written on, or drawn upon, for numerous at home psycho-educational purposes. … Continue reading →

The BITSS to Teach Children About Protective Behaviors

Yesterday we looked at The Protective Behavior Program. Today I’d like to share another, super easy model of Protective Behaviors. The BITSS you need to remember to help keep your kids safe. After eight years of research with families and children, I developed an easy to remember model of protective play to use in your home and on a daily basis. Most of the families, children and professionals that I researched with failed to remember either the name of “The Protective Behaviour Program” or the two themes that guide the teaching and rules of protective behavior. This scared me and … Continue reading →

A Developing Recipe for a Slice of Change

Due to personal reasons, I’ve been up since 1.15 this morning. My morning (work hours) consisted of three interviews with people affected by child sexual assault. I returned to my office to 6 calls waiting for me. Two were from the Criminal Investigation Bureau about historical sexual assault cases I’ve had involvement with over the years, one was from a Child Care Centre wanting some Protective Behavior Training, one was from the tax office (oh cringe – how I didn’t want to ring them back!) and two were from existing clients. Even the tax office was sexual assault related because … Continue reading →

How to Ask a Child if They’ve Been Sexually Abused.

The hard and awful questions of are life are usually left in the too hard basket. Parents may have an inkling that something is wrong because their child’s behavior has changed. While some parents never even consider that it could be sexual abuse, other parents (like me) worry themselves sick over the possibility of sexual abuse but most will never raise it as a possibility with their child. Sexual abuse is a hard topic to begin talking about if it has not been part of at home protective behavior discussions. Mebe’s story and early craving for someone to ask him … Continue reading →

Sexual Abuse of Boys: Mebe’s Personal Story.

Mebe (fictious name chosen by the person concerned) was seven when a family friend started paying him a lot of attention. The friend would seek Mebe out, buy him sweets, take him on outings and treated him as a prince. Because Mebe’s parents were busy with their jobs and their other children, they were grateful that Mebe had some individual attention from such a nice, responsible man. Mebe’s behaviour became worse and worse. He did graffiti on walls, other’s property and wrote rude notes at school. Mebe was in trouble at school, home and in his heart. He was trying … Continue reading →

When Bad Things Happen Again and Again.

It is not uncommon for a woman or child to reveal that many different perpetrators have sexually abused them throughout their life. There are neuropsychological and cognitive theories to explain why this happens. This does not mean that these theories are correct; it is just a way to help us understand how it is possible for one good person to attract so many bad things. What really gets me angered is when I hear people comment that the child or woman must be lying; that it is impossible for anybody to be sexually abused that many times. It is possible, … Continue reading →

A Super Duper Resource Site for Working with a Child who has Asperger’s

What a week I’ve had! My partner has been diagnosed with a serious illness and my son has been diagnosed with Asperger’s. How do I feel? Desolate. I have a hole in my chest the size of a football and stinging salt spray is assaulting the raw edges. I am exhausted and confused. I want to crawl into my bed and howl but I know that it won’t improve my situation. Rather than give in to my own feelings of grief, I have decided to use my grief to seek as many helpful resources as I can find. I am … Continue reading →