Lesson 097 of 300
Identify several reliable adults who listen, protect, provide care, and respond appropriately when the child needs help.
Help the child understand that a trusted adult is a person selected carefully by the child’s primary caregiver who listens, protects, follows safety rules, and takes action when the child needs help. Trust must be based on behaviour, not clothing, job, friendliness, or family title alone.
"A trusted adult is someone chosen carefully by your caregiver who listens, protects, and helps. A trusted adult respects body boundaries and does not ask you to hide frightening or unsafe behaviour. A parent, guardian, grandparent, teacher, health professional, or another person may be trusted, but a title alone does not prove safety. Safe behaviour does. Your caregiver can help you learn the names of several adults who can help. If one adult does not listen, tell another. A trusted adult proves trust through safe behaviour. You can know more than one adult who can help you." DESIGN REQUIREMENTS: Use varied adult roles without uniforms as automatic proof of safety. Avoid "good-looking versus scary-looking" comparisons, stranger stereotypes, fear, or child responsibility for evaluating adults perfectly.
Pause, point, name what you notice, and connect the idea to something familiar in your child's day. Repetition, a calm voice, shared attention and dependable care matter more than finishing quickly.