Prevention resources for parents, caregivers
Leading researchers and technical assistance providers across the movement to end sexual violence are pushing new resources, publications and support aimed at supporting parents and caregivers.
The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), which was released released earlier this year and cited record-breaking instances of violence against teen girls, sparked a national dialogue around how communities and those outside of the professional anti-violence field can support youth and prevent violence.
While not a new concept, the YRBS highlights the need for people working to prevent violence to engage with parents and caregivers.
A recent HuffPost article, Teen Girls are Being Sexually Assaulted in Record Numbers. Here’s What We Can Do About it, outlines actions parents and caregivers can take to create safe environments in their youths lives.
For practitioners who have worked in youth-engagement spaces, whether that be through a school or community program, we know that engaging caregivers and bringing them into prevention work is not a simple task. Preventing violence requires shifts in social norms, unlearning of decades-long messaging and the knowledge and bravery to approach complex topics that likely were never taught to the adults.
The movement to end sexual and intimate partner violence has long recognized that we need to engage adults in our prevention efforts, even being recognized as a key strategy in the Prevent IPV Technical Package, but how we go about engaging caregivers has largely been left up to local programs and practitioners.
Below is a non-exhaustive list of several emerging resources for parents and caregivers, aimed at supporting efforts in nurturing safe environments for the youth in their lives.
- Nurturing Healthy, Safe Relationships for LGBTQ+ Youth: a Guide for Parents and Caregivers, from Veto Violence
This guide can help parents and caregivers provide relational support to LGBTQ+ youth in their lives. It gives parents and caregivers the information they need to have helpful conversations and provides them with the resources they may need to discuss safe and healthy relationships.
Access the guide here.
- Car Conversations Guide for Parents and Caregivers, from Valor.Us
This guide will helps caregivers have conversations about relationships, harassment, consent, and other issues related to dating violence, in bite-sized sections that can be tackled in short periods of time, like during a trip to or from school.
Access the guide here.
- NO MÁS, from Esperanza United, the National Latin@ Network) and NO MORE
This guide is a collaborative effort developed to help families raise children who can engage in healthy communications, relationships and sexuality. It has multiple sections for caregivers to choose and read through, and provides guidance in navigating conversations around difficult topics. The guide also comes with a toggle-bar to translate the entire site into Spanish.
Access the guide here.
- Safe Youth Collaborative, from the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault
This guide supports people who want to raise safe, strong, connected kids through learning and teaching sexual violence prevention. It has specific age-appropriate tips and ideas geared youth at all ages, from birth to young adults.
Access the guide here.
- RedefineSLO, from Lumina Alliance
This guide is a website tool for parents, educators and influential adults, to navigate topics specifically geared toward preteen boys. It offers multiple conversation guides with tips and tools around how to talk about masculinity, healthy sexuality and more.
Access the guide here.
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If you know of or are working on a program or guide specific to parents or caregivers and would like to see it featured on PreventConnect, email us at info@preventconnect.org.