Speaking to Rosalia Rivera is like going to class and getting a thorough education on child safety. The Latina mother of three boys is on a mission to help sexual abuse survivors to educate their children on body safety, boundaries, and consent. Her goal is to empower parents and children to prevent and eradicate child sexual abuse. Through workshops, courses, and guided support, Rosalia is determined to break the intergenerational cycle of abuse by providing valuable information that speaks directly to the survivor’s experience and offers specific tools for prevention.
I invite you to watch our IGTV!
Rosalia and I discussed the most recent study that states that 1 in 10 public school children have experienced sexual misconduct by an educator. An alarming figure that needs to be known and share so parents can be aware and understand what can happen to any child, regardless of gender, race, or nationality.
As parents look for summer programs and are considering schools for their kids for the upcoming school year and any other place or activity for their kids, Rosalia suggests the following guidelines:
- Make sure there is open communication between parents and school/program officials.
- Ratio adult-child supervision. Are they adults, teens, how are they vetted, screened?
- How are they answering the questions? Are they comfortable with the questions? Do they seem nervous, annoyed, standoffish?
- School/Program accreditation- certified, accredited by the state? Who do they report to?
Body Safety Tips for Kids
- Educate them about private parts safety – use the correct name for each part. Share basic information.
- Educate about safe vs unsafe touch.
- Encourage communication – make sure they know to come to you if they feel uncomfortable- Provide tools and language they can follow. Make sure they understand body autonomy.
Online Safety Tips
- The computer should be in a central place.
- Create a family media agreement- include safety use, responsibility, privilege.
- Establish/Explain exit strategies- how to leave a conversation with a tricky person, pornography situation, and what to do after.
In addition to child grooming, Consent Parenting workshops include Communication Tools, Getting Started, Child Protection Masterclass, and Secrets Masterclass. Rosalia also hosts a weekly podcast, About Consent where she interviews survivors and those who support survivors: experts in the area of mental health, trauma, and survivors/thrivers.
For more information visit www.consentparenting.com or follow her on Instagram @consentparenting
Thank you so much, Rosalia!
