Good News for Children's Safety!

Fall 2012

Good News for Children's Safety!

Good news deserves to be shared! For all of us working tirelessly in the field of child safety, there's some good news to celebrate. A new report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows declines in child sexual abuse and other related crimes against children.

These improvements validate our prevention efforts and are solid evidence that the work we are doing improves children's lives. Let's keep the momentum going, and continue working toward 0% child abuse!

Importance of Program Evaluations:
Teen Lures TV Newscast Proven Effective

Schools and other child serving organizations are extremely busy places, with limited time for each valuable educational program offered. Evaluating program efficacy is important for two reasons:

1.) to ascertain if the program is having the intended effect 2.) to determine how the program could be improved by identifying what areas of knowledge and skill need additional or continual attention.

Two schools recently evaluated the Teen Lures TV Newscast School Program, with excellent results. Rice Memorial High School and CTK School both conducted Pre and Post Tests to assess the effectiveness of Teen Lures TV Newscast. Evaluation highlights documenting its effectiveness follow.

Significant knowledge increase in these areas:

Teens can be groomed for abuse with attention, special privileges and gifts. (36%/44% knowledge gain)
Acquaintance rape is a common crime among teens and young adults. (16%/19% knowledge gain)
Sexual abuse is never the victim's fault.
(13%/15.3% knowledge gain)

Significant improvement in Cyber knowledge:

Knowing only our phone number, anyone can Google exactly where we live. (19%/16% knowledge gain)
Cyberbullying is a crime in all 50 states.
(15%/11% knowledge gain)

Notable improvement of specific personal safety skills include:

Teens are not obligated to assist when someone asks for help. (20%/15% skill improvement)
It is a crime to text nude images of ourselves to a boyfriend or girlfriend. (12%/15.3% skill improvement)

Full evaluations are available upon request. For TLP
Program Evaluation assistance, please call Jennifer @ 1-800-552-2197. Online Pre/Post Tests available.

The Teen Lures TV Newscast uses a combination of student-led newscasts and counselor/teacher-facilitated classroom discussions. It is proving to be an effective tool in teen personal safety education.

To preview the Teen Lures TV Newscast School Program for Grades 7-12, click here.

Is Sexting Still Popular

with Teens and Young Adults?

Yes, according to a new study by the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

This University of Texas study interviewed 1,000 students aged 14-18 from seven high schools. Half of the teens revealed they had been asked to send a nude photo of themselves to someone; 30% had requested that a naked picture be sent to them. The study found that 28 percent of boys and girls equally have sent a naked photo or video of themselves to another person.

Many teens continue to be inexperienced about the legal and social consequences of sexting. The Teen Lures TV Newscast School Program discusses the issue of sexting, specifically the following consequences:

Sexting involving minors is against the law.
Teens can be charged with a crime for sending
and/or receiving sexually explicit images of minors.
Once sent, images can not be taken back.
Images sent or posted may not remain private;
many others may see them, including family/friends.
Sexting may lead to pressuring for more pictures and/or blackmail.
The inappropriate images may embarrass teens, or family members who view them.
May be denied a job or job interview.
May be denied college admission.

Available TLP resources:

Tips for Parents on Sexting & Teens

Texting Lingo: What Does it Mean?

Poster: Pics Don't Stay Private

The "Checklist Manifesto" for CLP/TLP:
Policies and Procedures

In 2008, Dr. Atul Gawande (author of The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right) effectively implemented an old-fashioned checklist to help reduce major surgery complications and deaths in eight US hospitals. The results were impressive: surgery complications dropped 36%; deaths plunged 47% in hospitals using the checklist.

CLP/TLP has developed a similar Organizational Checklist to help ensure effective implementation of the Think First & Stay Safe and Teen Lures TV Newscast School Programs. While we have the utmost faith that most schools and organizations are diligent in creating and maintaining Policies and Procedures surrounding child personal safety, a checklist specific to CLP/TLP programs is a helpful tool for busy administrators, educators and staff.

Links to Resources:
Organizational Checklist
Flyer: Understanding Grooming

New Educational Partner & Allied Agency

We are proud to announce CLP/TLP's two new Partners in Prevention, USA Gymnastics and The California State PTA.

USA Gymnastics has selected CLP/TLP as one of its four national Educational Partners for its newly developed Clubs Care Campaign. This campaign is created to help individuals be more aware of the issue of child sexual abuse, and then suggest ways one can turn that awareness into action.

CLP/TLP was also chosen to be an Allied Agency with California State PTA's Community Concerns Commission.
The Commission deals with a variety of concerns within
the home, school and community that affect children and their families.

We are pleased to continue working with you - our valued child educators and advocates - at the many schools and organizations across the country. Together with these newly established educational partners, we can all continue to raise awareness and take action to help keep children and teens safe. Thank you for your dedication!