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 15-19, 2023. 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 Jennifer Colangelo, Director of Human Resources 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 15-19 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, and Childhelp, Common Sense Media and Committee for Children have shared resources to support this campaign.
Know
KNOWing the facts 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. Learn more about the different types of abuse, the signs and how you can help at childhelphotline.org.
See
Media and technology are at the center of children’s lives every day. With more of life happening online, what catches their attention isn’t always what’s best for them. As a parent or caregiver, you may SEE a child interacting with media daily, and you can be equipped with the tools and resources to make sure any environment (including online) is free from any abuse. Learn more at commonsensemedia.org/articles/online-safety.
Respond
How can you RESPOND to the call to help prevent child sexual abuse? As a parent or caregiver, you may know it’s important to talk about it, but you may not know what or when to say it. Committee for Children has created the Hot Chocolate Talk campaign, packing decades of research into easy-to-use guides to help you begin these crucial conversations – at any age, from toddler to teen. Visit cfchildren.org/resources/child-abuse-prevention/ to learn more and empower your child to report and refuse sexual abuse.
OTHER RESOURCES
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YMCA’s Commitment to Child Safety Brochure: English
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Abuse Prevention Introduction: Click Here
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Recognize Abuse and it’s Warning Signs: Click Here
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How to Talk to Youth About Abuse: Click Here
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How to Respond to Child Abuse: Click Here
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6 Key Questions a Parent Should Ask of a Camp: Click Here
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Online Trainings fro Parents and Caregivers: Click Here
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Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Online Training: Click Here
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See Things Differently: Know. See. Respond: 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 Childhelp
The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline takes pride in participating in research studies to best understand the populations we serve, the needs of help seekers, and best practices in supporting those impacted by child abuse and neglect. Their research aids in meeting the physical, emotional, educational and spiritual needs of abused, neglected and at-risk children. Learn more at childhelphotline.org.
About Common Sense Media
Common Sense is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century. Learn more at commonsense.org.
About Committee for Children
Committee for Children is a global nonprofit organization founded in 1979 dedicated to promoting the safety, well-being, and social-emotional development of children through innovative research-based programs. Visit cfchildren.org to learn more.
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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