Kids Have Rights

What is Kids Have Rights?

Kids Have Rights is a prevention program of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Kent County, Michigan. Sanilac County adopted the Kids Have Rights program to educate and empower students, school staff, parents and caregivers to recognize, prevent, and stop child sexual abuse in our community in 2016. Our Kids Have Rights staff is composed of a certified teacher with over 12 years of classroom experience.

 

What We Do.

Kids Have Rights accomplishes its mission by partnering and working collaboratively with area elementary schools to present body safety lessons during the school day that are engaging, child-centered, and age appropriate.  The curriculum is based on the latest research and informed by the expertise of the program educators, CAC’s therapists, forensic interviewers, law enforcement, and others.

 

The KHR educator presents a 30 – 60 minute lesson (dependent upon grade level) which is reinforced by subsequent mini-lessons taught by the classroom teacher. Classroom teachers are given an instructive video, an Educator’s Guide, and answer keys.  They are taught the warning signs of child sexual abuse, how to effectively listen and respond appropriately to a disclosure of abuse, and how to report suspected abuse.

 

Supplemental materials are sent home so that parents/caregivers may work with their child to reinforce lessons and increase their knowledge and comfort in talking to their child about body safety.  Parents/caregivers are taught the warning signs of child sexual abuse and how to listen and respond appropriately to their child.

 

Kids Have Rights knows that it is only through working collectively and consistently that we can stop the silent epidemic of child sexual abuse.

 

When a child knows that they have adults in their lives who will listen to them, who will believe them, and who will help them, they are willing to tell their story free of hesitation or fear.

 

Why We Do It.

The Kids Have Rights program began in the fall of 2016 and continues today, visiting Kindergarten through 4th-grade classrooms each school year throughout Sanilac County.  Each Year, KHR presents body safety lessons in over 50 classrooms throughout 7 public school districts. Research states that one in ten children will be the victim of sexual abuse before their 18th birthday, so we still have much work to do, and we need your help to do it.

 

What Parents, Teachers, and Kids Say about Kids Have Rights.

 

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Getting Kids Have Rights into your school.

Please contact Stephanie MacMillan, Program Coordinator at

macmillans@sanilacchild.org or 810.648.4172 Option #2 and Option #2