Michigan Model for Comprehensive School Health Education®

The past two weeks, my "skills streaming" lessons have been educating K-3rd grade about sexual abuse prevention. If you child goes to public school in Michigan, chances are they will receive this training from someone like me (unless, as a parent you opt. for your child to leave the room during this lesson). There are a variety of things that the state of Michigan wants their public educated kids to learn, check out the curriculum here. It has taken me two weeks, but I have gotten through the entire school (17 classrooms with 3 more to do tomorrow), but I am glad to say that the past two weeks have gone well, however I think I am going to process some thoughts:

• Although I appreciate the message of safety and self protection that I have been teaching, I don't know how I feel about the state issued videos that I show for each grade level. They cover the material, they hit the message hard and they are very clear: It is NEVER OK to be touched inappropriately, what that means, and how to keep yourself safe - but there is something about a few of them that makes me uncomfortable - My guess is that it makes me feel uncomfortable showing it to kids who have never dealt with keeping their bodies safe from violation and never will, but it is exactly what a student who is being abused should see. So I have mixed feelings.


• The kids have been amazing about the lessons. Each class (with the exception of two or three students out of almost 500) take this very seriously! There is silence in the room when I talk about what "bad touch means" and how no one every has the right to touch our private body parts, etc. In every class they jump into discussions about good touch and bad touch, coming up with great examples and good questions.


• I don't know how much of the ease with which the lessons are going has to do with the fact that I am pretty comfortable talking about this issue. If I take it seriously and talk about it appropriately, the kids do to.


• I was nervous about the response that parents might give when I sent out the letter letting parents know that I would be teaching this lesson in March. Not a single parent questioned me, asked their child to be taken out of class, etc. This surprised me.


• I don't remember getting this lesson when I was in elementary school, but I seriously think that I could have seen one or two of the videos when I was in 1st and 2nd grade the videos are that old!


• I have become the "teacher" who gives the slightly awkward and uncomfortable "talk" with the kids at school. I never, ever, would have guessed that I would be that person when I was in the students shoes.