Child molestation has recently become one of the most discussed topics. Although child molestation is not a new phenomenon, stopping this behavior, raising children's awareness of molestation, and condemning the perpetrator have become societal priorities.
Some recent statistics show an increase in the rates of harassment against children and adolescents, especially in schools. This is because children face great difficulty in distinguishing between kind treatment and harassment, due to insufficient awareness about molestation from a young age.
Definition of the Term Pedophilia
Pedophilia is a disorder of child molestation or sexual attraction to children under the age of 13. It involves recurring desires and fantasies for sexual arousal, and children and adolescents are used to satisfy these desires.
The term pedophilia applies to the behavior of child molestation, sexual attraction to children, child marriage, and cases of child rape.
The Importance of Raising Children's Awareness of Molestation in Schools
The importance of raising children's awareness of molestation lies in enhancing the child's sense of self-confidence and security. It helps define the child's rights and bodily privacy, enhancing their ability to protect themselves from harassment and to distinguish between kindness and harassment or unsafe behavior.
Furthermore, raising a child's awareness helps build a strong personality for them and helps them express their fears and feelings in a healthy way.
Consequently, it helps build a stable and safe school environment for students and encourages them to report cases of harassment in the school. This fundamentally contributes to students developing a love for school.
The Impact of Molestation on a Child's Psychology and Behavior
Molestation is considered one of the most dangerous experiences a child can go through, as it leaves significant negative effects on the child from several aspects, including:
Psychological Effects:
- Persistent anxiety and fear, especially of places associated with the incident.
- Sleep disorders.
- Loss of self-confidence and low self-esteem.
- Feeling of insecurity.
Behavioral Effects:
- Social withdrawal or isolation of the child.
- Avoiding interaction with strangers.
- Avoiding school activities.
- Increased aggressive behavior and extreme irritability.
- This response is AI-generated, for reference only.
The Family's Role in Protecting Children from Molestation
The family is the child's first line of defense and is responsible for raising the child, shaping their personality, and providing them with sufficient awareness against any abuse or exploitation through:
- Early awareness against molestation and talking to the child about their body parts and the boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable touch in an age-appropriate manner.
- Enhancing the child's self-confidence by encouraging them to express their opinion and object to any situation that causes them fear or discomfort.
- Creating an environment of communication with the child, giving them trust and emotional warmth to talk to their parents.
- Cooperating with the school to ensure the existence of child protection policies within the school and monitoring the child's participation in school activities.
How Does the School Contribute to Raising Children's Awareness of Molestation?
In addition to the family's role, the school also plays a fundamental role as it represents the second environment where the child spends most of their time. The school can combat molestation by:
- Educating children and making them aware of their rights and their right to say "no."
- Preparing and training teachers to deal with children's complaints and behavior in the classroom attentively.
- Having a social worker and a psychologist to speak with children confidentially, address their problems, and provide healthy solutions for the child's psyche.
- Implementing activities that help the child express themselves and programs to raise awareness about molestation.
Activities to Raise Children's Awareness of Molestation in School
It is important to organize activities within the school to raise children's awareness about molestation in a simple way that the child can understand and deal with. These activities include:
- Organizing plays that depict incidents of molestation in a manner appropriate for the children's age.
- Holding periodic classes to raise children's awareness about molestation, where real stories of child molestation incidents are presented.
- Conducting drawing and coloring activities with titles like "Say No," and "My Body Belongs to Me."
- Displaying awareness posters on school walls illustrating the boundaries of safe touch.
How to Protect Your Child from Molestation?
It is important for parents to know how to protect their child from the danger of molestation by:
- Providing early awareness to the child against molestation and teaching them about the private parts of their body that are off-limits to touch.
- Enhancing the child's self-confidence.
- Parents knowing the people surrounding the child and identifying trusted individuals.
- Daily communication with the child and knowing the details of their school day.
- Monitoring changes in the child's behavior, especially social withdrawal.
- Providing psychological support and comforting the child if they are exposed to a molestation incident, resorting to a psychological specialist if necessary.
Steps to Be Taken After a Child Is Exposed to Molestation
It is essential to know the steps to follow after a child is exposed to a molestation incident, including:
- The mother must maintain her composure in front of the child so the child does not feel afraid.
- Giving the child enough time to explain what happened fully without placing any blame on them.
- Providing psychological support to the child and referring them to a psychological specialist.
- Recording the incident as narrated by the child and reporting it to the responsible or competent authorities, such as the child helpline or the police.
- Monitoring the child's psychological and health condition and ensuring they have not suffered any physical harm.
- It is important to share the details of the incident with the media and social media to raise community awareness, while considering the concealment of the child's identity to avoid negatively impacting their psyche.
The Importance of Psychological Therapy Sessions for the Child After Exposure to Molestation
Psychotherapy sessions are an essential step in improving a child's psychological state after being sexually harassed. They help release negative emotions, rebuild their confidence in themselves and others, and reduce feelings of fear or betrayal.
It also contributes significantly to correcting the child's misconceptions about himself, such as feelings of guilt, wrongdoing, or self-shame. These sessions also help provide the family with the correct guidance at this stage.
Summary of Raising Children's Awareness of Molestation
In conclusion, raising a child's awareness against molestation in school is a shared responsibility borne by the community, the family, and the school. The more the community focuses on this issue, the greater its awareness becomes and the more the child knows their rights.
Furthermore, raising children's awareness about molestation contributes to providing a safe environment for children and a healthy upbringing for them in a society aware of the dangers of child molestation. Investing in children's mental health and teaching them self-protection is the fundamental basis for raising a generation that is aware and psychologically sound.