5 body safety role-plays you must do with your child
When it comes to teaching children about body safety, incorporating role-play can be an invaluable tool. Role-play not only makes learning engaging and interactive but also helps children understand and remember crucial concepts that protect them from potential harm. It allows kids to actively participate and immerse themselves in different situations. They get to play out scenarios where they might feel uncomfortable or encounter challenging situations, allowing them to practice responses and solutions in a safe and controlled environment.
Children, especially toddlers, usually find it difficult to imagine a particular situation. When they act out scenarios, children grasp the meaning of personal boundaries, safe and unsafe touches, and the importance of saying no to uncomfortable situations. It helps them internalize these concepts by experiencing them in a practical, hands-on manner. Additionally, by practicing responses to uncomfortable scenarios, they get more confidence to assert their boundaries and speak up when they feel uneasy.
Of course, you cannot predict every possible unsafe situation your child may face. But doing these five role-plays covers most of the important and common scenarios. Important to call out here that along with teaching kids about body safety and doing these role-plays, it is extremely important that you create an open and frank environment at home where your child can talk about anything without fear of punishment or embarrassment. You need to be their “go-to” person for consulting on anything they want to know or discuss.
Please note: You can tailor these scenarios to suit your child’s developmental level and maturity. The best thing to do in all these situations is to get away from the tricky person. It has to be emphasized that even if the child is unable to respond verbally and say “no”, they should try and leave that tricky person immediately and talk to a trusted adult or parent. Always convey that that the adult who behaves in an unsafe way is wrong and it is NOT the child’s fault even if they are unable to get away from the unsafe situation.
Situation 1:
A friend’s dad gives you his phone to watch videos on and tells you to keep it a secret because he will get in trouble with your parents if they come to know.
What to think: I must never keep secrets from my parents.
What to say: I don’t want the phone. OR I don’t keep secrets from my parents.
What to explain to your child: Even if you watch the video, you can still come and tell us about it. Even if you are forced to agree to keep the secret, you can tell us about it. You may feel unable to say “no” to some people. That’s fine. The important thing is to tell us when someone asks you to keep any secret.
Situation 2:
During a family gathering, a relative insists on kissing you, but you don’t want to be kissed.
What to think: If I don’t want to be kissed. I can say no.
What to say: Please don’t kiss me. I don’t like it. I prefer a smile or a wave.
What to explain to your child: Try to offer a hi-five instead of a hug. But iIf you feel unable to say “no”, that’s fine. You can ask us for help and we can let the person know that you would prefer to wave instead of hug.
Situation 3:
A neighbour asks you to play a show and touch game with your private parts.
What to think: Touching and seeing private parts is unsafe.
What to say: No! I don’t want to do that.
What to explain to your child: You might not be able to speak up in some situations. But it is important to get away from tricky people. You can make an excuse about feeling sick or having to get back home fast and leave the unsafe situation. Or you can ask to speak to me and use your warning word so that I know you are feeling unsafe.
Situation 4:
A relation shows you pictures of naked people and tells you that this is how people show love for each other.
What to think: Private parts are private and showing pictures like this is not safe.
What to say: No! I don’t want to do that.
What to explain to your child: Sometimes you might feel curious about the pictures and want to look at them. But you still need to understand that the person showing you this is tricky and not good and you need to get away from them as fast as you can. You can always come to me to understand anything about sex, reproduction and any related topics.
Situation 5:
Someone you know very well keeps patting you or touching your hair. It’s totally innocent and they have never said or done anything weird or tricky with you. Yet you feel uncomfortable around them and do not want to be touched by them.
What to think: If I don’t want to be touched, that’s totally fine. My feelings are valid and I will listen to my instincts.
What to say: I would really prefer it if you didn’t pat me on the back. I don’t like it.
What to explain to your child: It’s totally okay to feel uncomfortable around someone even without a clear reason. You need to always listen to your feelings and instincts even if you can’t explain things. You may also be unable to speak up and say no to being touched. But still come and tell me about how you feel. It’s important for me to know how you feel and we can discuss how to tackle the situation. (Note: Convey to your child that you may not have a ready answer for everything. But that you are keen to figure it out together.)
