35 Years in Prevention – My Anniversary Message to You

Dear Friends,
 
For 35 years, I have woken up each and every morning with clarity in mission: I am on this planet to help end child sexual assault. Toward this mission, I have educated thousands of teachers, administrators, social workers, physicians, coaches, children, and parents.

Renewing Our Vows…
I vow to you that I will continue waking up each and every day guided by my unwavering commitment to keep children safe from sexual assault. Will you join me?

I’d like to share some of my experiences with you and the three most important things I’ve learned about keeping your children safe.

Over 35 Years…..

• I’ve witnessed the tears and courage of survivors healing wounds by learning about prevention and speaking up on behalf of their children.
• I’ve sat with scared and sobbing children, revealing to me that they were actively being assaulted by a parent – and I acted to stop it.
• I’ve consulted with parents who realized, after attending a Parenting Safe Children workshop, that their child was being groomed.
• I’ve written child sexual assault prevention policies for schools and youth organizations to help keep children safe while learning and playing.
• I’ve answered thousands of questions from parents about normal sexual development versus behaviors of concern.
• I’ve educated over 150,000 parents, children and youth professionals around the world through the Parenting Safe Children workshop.
• I’ve supported you as you struggle with helping a child who is acting out sexually.
• I’ve run multiple campaigns for Child Sexual Abuse Prevention month and made more than 3,000 posts on social media to educate parents about raising children who are off limits to child sexual assault.
• I’ve asked multibillion dollar companies like Patagonia, Smart Wool and Subaru to remove ads that put children in harm’s way.
• I’ve looked into the eyes of convicted child sexual offenders and asked, “What would have stopped you?”

What I’ve Learned…..
I don’t share these facts to boast my accomplishments, but rather to share with you the three most important things I’ve learned through these efforts over the last 35 years:

1. Adults are responsible for keeping children safe from sexual assault.
2. When adults have the skills and courage to speak up and build Prevention Teams™, children are safer.
3. Photos of children, of any gender, undressed in any way (without shirts or pants, babies or toddlers in diapers, or bath tub photos), have absolutely no place on social media because these photos are “candy” for people who are aroused by children and who broker in sexually abusive imagery.

Renewing Our Vows…
I vow to you that I will continue waking up each and every day guided by my unwavering commitment to keep children safe from sexual assault. Will you join me?
 
Will You Join Me?
Here are three actions you can take today to keep children safe:

1. Refrain from posting photos of your children, undressed in any way, on social media.
2. If you have not invited your nanny, tutor, teacher, coach, and all family members onto your Prevention Team™, visit the Parenting Safe Children Facebook page for guidelines on how to do so, or set up a consultation with me and I’ll coach you through how to do it.
3. Send this email to everyone you know and specifically invite them to the Parenting Safe Children Online Workshop.

With love and gratitude,

Feather

Feather Berkower, MSW, is Founder of Parenting Safe Children and a Child Sexual Assault Prevention Educator & Author