Help Us Take Action To Protect Children

Join Five Days of Action to Help Prevent Child Sexual Abuse, April 24-28

5 Days of Action, One Day at a Time, Child Abuse Prevention,

COMMUNITY COMES TOGETHER TO PROTECT CHILDREN

The YMCA Joins National Five Days of Action to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse

The YMCA of Greater Nashua is participating in the Five Days of Action, April 24-28, 2022. The Five Days of Action is a weeklong campaign to raise awareness and inspire adults to take action to protect children from sexual abuse.

The Y encourages adults and organizations to join in marking this special week as Greater Nashua comes together to make the community a safer place for children to live, learn, and play. With summer right around the corner—when children gather for activities and camps, it is a wonderful time to bring attention to the simple ways we can all make the children in our community.

The Know. See. Respond. campaign is back this year, tying in three impact areas – preventing child sexual abuse at both summer camp and in youth sports, and internet safety.

“The children of our region have the right to a happy and safe childhood, and it’s our responsibility as adults and organizations to stand up to protect that right,” said Elizabeth Covino, chief community relations officer for the YMCA of Greater Nashua.  “By joining in the Five Days of Action campaign, we hope to inspire other organizations and members of our community to create safe spaces that protect children from sexual abuse.”

 

Our Y is fully committed to protecting youth from abuse in our community, and we are asking you to join us.

Please tune into our Facebook page during the Five Days of Action from April 24-28 or read through the list of resources below to learn more and get involved with child-protection efforts.

As a community, we have an obligation to nurture our children and protect their only childhood. We must prevent child sexual abuse to live up to this obligation. A key tool in abuse prevention is knowledge, so it’s important that parents and caregivers are informed of the Y’s policies around children. Together we can work to ensure all children in Greater Nashua region reach their full potential.

Click Here to download Our Commitment to Child Safety Brochure for more details.

As part of our commitment to protecting the children in our community, we’re participating in the Five Days of Action – a week-long campaign to increase awareness of child sexual abuse and empower and equip us all to prevent it. By taking part in this important campaign and through implementing abuse prevention practices year-round, we are committing to the safety of all children in our community.

The Know. See. Respond. campaign is back this year, tying in three impact areas – preventing child sexual abuse at both summer camp and in youth sports, and internet safety. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, U.S. Center for SafeSport and Praesidium have shared resources to support this campaign.

 

Know: Summer Camp
KNOWing about child sexual abuse can help adults better understand what to look for and how to prevent it.  As parents, caregivers, and trusted adults to the young people in our lives, we play an important role in protecting them from abuse. This requires our commitment to continually learn and then ask questions about the safety of our loved ones.

The Y – and other youth serving organizations – implement a series of measures to keep the kids in their care safe.  Next time you enroll your loved one in a new program, ask them about their child protection practices. For this summer, you can use this list.

 

See: Youth Sports
When we SEE boundaries being crossed or suspect a child is being abused, we can and should act quickly. Sports should be safe places for children to grow, both as people and athletes. As a parent, caregiver, coach, or volunteer, it is up to you to make sure any environment in which children in your care interact is free from abuse. Learn more about the signs and how you can help prevent child sexual abuse in youth sports at https://uscenterforsafesport.org/parents/.

 

Respond: Internet Safety
Did you know that you don’t need evidence to report abuse—only reasonable suspicion? But even for adults, reporting abuse is hard. We don’t want to falsely accuse someone or get someone in trouble. On the other hand, reporting might be the one thing that saves a child – or children – from abuse. It is our responsibility to RESPOND to any and all disclosure, discovery or suspicion of child sexual abuse.

As adults and children alike have turned to digital tools for school, work and socialization, online safety matters now more than ever. Many online dangers put children at risk, such as cyber bullying, online enticement and more. As an adult, keeping an open line of communication with any children in your care who may access online content can be key to helping prevent sexual abuse. Learn the facts, how you can keep kids safe, and how to respond to online victimization at https://www.missingkids.org/netsmartz.

 

 

OTHER RESOURCES

YMCA of Greater Nashua

  • YMCA’s Commitment to Child Safety Brochure: English

Praesidium

U.S. Center for SafeSport

  • Online Trainings fro Parents and Caregivers: Click Here

Darkness to Light

  • Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Online Training: Click Here

Redwoods Group Foundation

  • See Things Differently: Know. See. Respond: English

Five Days of Action

  • Pledge to Protect Children Sign: English

 

 


 

About YMCA of Greater Nashua

The YMCA of Greater Nashua is a positive force in the Greater Nashua community fully committed to preventing child abuse. Together, with our community partners, we take on the challenges that shape our area’s future. From tackling the achievement gap to teaching healthy habits for a lifetime or giving people the chance to strengthen our community through volunteering, everything the Y does is in service of building a better us.

 

About Praesidium

Praesidium specializes in preventing sexual abuse in organizations that serve youth and vulnerable adults. Over a period in excess of 25 years, the company has reviewed over 4,000 cases of abuse within organizations to determine the root causes of sexual abuse within organizational settings. Praesidium employs more than 40 staff, including licensed social workers, lawyers, psychologists, health care researchers, and other experts. The company has served over 5,000 clients with a broad range of products and services to aid organizations in preventing abuse, including online and instructor‐led trainings; organizational risk assessments; model policies and incident investigations. Having trained more than one million people online and hundreds of thousands in person, Praesidium is the largest and most comprehensive sexual abuse risk management firm globally. For more information, visit www.praesidiuminc.com.

 

About Redwoods Group Foundation

The The Redwoods Group Foundation supports programs that can change the world and helps them reach more people than ever before, through funding and backbone support. We currently focus on child sexual abuse prevention, drowning prevention, and growing the field of social entrepreneurship. For more information, visit www.redwoodsgroup.com.

 

About American Camp Association

The American Camp Association® (ACA) is a national organization serving the more than 15,000 year-round and summer camps in the US who annually serve 26 million campers. ACA is committed to collaborating with those who believe in quality camp and outdoor experiences for children, youth, and adults. ACA provides advocacy, evidence-based education, and professional development, and is the only independent national accrediting body for the organized camp experience. ACA Accreditation provides public evidence of a camp’s voluntary commitment to the health, safety, risk management, and overall well-being of campers and staff. For more information, visit www.ACAcamps.org or call 800-428-2267.

 

About Darkness to Light

Darkness to Light is a nonprofit organization with the mission to empower adults to prevent child sexual abuse through awareness, education, and stigma reduction. Darkness to Light’s flagship program, Stewards of Children®, is an evidence-informed, award-winning training that teaches adults to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse. More than 1.9 million adults have been trained using Darkness to Light trainings. For more information, visit www.D2L.org.

 

About U.S. Center for SafeSport

The U.S. Center for SafeSport is an independent nonprofit committed to building a sport community where participants can work and learn together free of emotional, physical and sexual abuse and misconduct. Explore our site for training resources, help and best practices for coaches, parents, athletes, youth and amateur sports organizations in creating your SafeSport environment, visit www.uscenterforsafesport.org.

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