The importance of parent participation in child protection curricula

Freda Briggs and Russell Hawkins address the need for parent involvement in preschool- and school-based child-protection programs aimed at preventing child sexual abuse. They note that the pressing need for child protection curricula in the 1970s and 1980s meant that programs proliferated without sound knowledge of child development or evidence to document their effectiveness. Briggs and Hawkins critically review program models and examine new evidence, mobilizing a powerful argument for parent participation. Capitalizing on the emergence of different approaches to child protection in Australia and New Zealand, Briggs and Hawkins compare these programs. They demonstrate that children gain more when curricula are developmentally appropriate and forthright in their presentation of sexual information and parents communicate with teachers and support their child's learning. When parents participate, school- based child protection programs can open up lines of communication about sexual matters between parents and children. Supportive interaction not only prevents sexual abuse, but promotes healthy sexual attitudes and safe sex practices when young people become sexually mature. As Briggs and Hawkins note, a major challenge for child protection programs is to find ways to make parents see the importance of and feel comfortable about joining in with their children