Indiana law (IC 20-19-3-11) requires that all schools provide age appropriate and research based instruction on child abuse and child sexual abuse to students in grades kindergarten through 12th. Penn-Harris-Madison has partnered with the Family Justice Center, Youth Service Bureau of St. Joseph County and the St. Joseph County Special Victims Unit to provide this instruction for our students.
Each unit is age appropriate specific to the grade level. The elementary (grades K-5) curriculum can be viewed at http://fightchildabuse.org/. The program’s main goal is to educate children about what to do when confronted with abusive behavior, safe and unsafe touches, going to a parent or another trusted adult if they are confronted in an unsafe situation, and that it is not their fault. An “Unsafe Touch” is defined as touching private parts of the body that are covered by a bathing suit. Stranger safety, Internet safety and other situations are also presented.
For middle school, P-H-M will be utilizing the Teen Lures Prevention curriculum on a variety of safety issues. For additional information about the curriculum, please visit https://childluresprevention.com/grades7-12/.
At the high school level, students will watch a video created by the St. Joseph County Special Victims Unit will be presented about ways youth can prevent, respond to and report all forms of child abuse, dating violence and sexual assault. By talking openly with students about what constitutes healthy and respectful relationships, we prepare young people to better recognize and resist all forms of mistreatment.
Parents have the option to have their student(s) participate in the state mandated educational program.
Parents are asked to complete the online permission slip through their student(s) school website. *Please note a permission form needs to be returned to your student’s school for each individual child enrolled in a Penn-Harris-Madison School.
