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Safe Touch

Safe Touch teaches that every child deserves to feel safe at home, at school, and in their community.

Safe Touch

Safe Touch teaches that every child deserves to feel safe at home, at school, and in their community.

ST Facilitator Training Save the Date
SAFE TOUCH FACILITATOR TRAINING 
Date: Friday, August 11th-Saturday, August 12th
Time: 9am-5pm
Orange County, NC (Online & In-person option)
Training cost: $350 individual/$475 organization 
Additional costs to purchase curriculum license
Learn more and register here
 
Safe Touch™ is an evidence-informed curriculum created by advocates at OCRCC based on best practices in child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention. We have successfully partnered with our local school districts for more than 40 years to prevent CSA in Orange County and surrounding areas and serve more than 10,000 students annually. 
 
Become a Safe Touch™ facilitator and learn how to prevent CSA in your community. Training topics will include…
  • Preparing your Community for CSA Prevention 
  • Youth Engagement Strategies & Trauma-informed Facilitation 
  • Program Logistics & Curriculum Materials 
  • Recognizing & Responding to CSA 
  • Relevant NC Laws and Policies
Questions? Contact alex@ocrcc.org 

About Safe Touch

By identifying touches as safe, unsafe, or confusing, students learn that no one should touch their body in a way that makes them feel unsafe or uncomfortable. Students learn the Safety Saying – say no, get away, tell someone – and practice expressing their boundaries. The program also addresses the idea of secrets and tricks while teaching children that it is never their fault if someone else violates safe boundaries. We work with students to identify adults both at home and at school that they can talk to if they ever feel unsafe or uncomfortable. 

These messages are repeated each year with age-appropriate language and materials, and families receive materials to reinforce safety lessons at home. Safe Touch is designed for continuous learning: each year’s curriculum builds on the skills and knowledge taught in previous years, offering students a clear and sustained message about safety and achieving best results for preventing violence. Safe Touch programs are research-based, meeting national and school standards for personal safety education.

Click here to read the 2023 Safe Touch Evaluation Report, prepared by MSB Consulting.

Safe Touch Programs

We offer our educational programs in both English and Spanish, including a curriculum for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Safe Touch and Start Strong are offered in Orange County Schools and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. These programs are available to any group at an hourly rate, with additional access through a sliding scale. Please do not let cost be a barrier to bringing this content to your group. 

All Safe Touch programs are currently being offered virtually live or pre-recorded.

you are a special person

Pre-K/Kindergarten | 20-30 minutes
Together we read a picture book called Safe Touches Only, students practice the Safety Saying, and puppets are used to role play age-appropriate situations.

what to do

1st Grade | 30 minutes
Students practice boundary setting, learning ‘your body belongs to you.’ Students learn a safety song and safe ways to tell someone when they are uncomfortable. Together we practice the Safety Saying and brainstorm trusted adults.

Someone to Talk To​

2nd Grade | 45 minutes
Students review and practice the Safety Saying. A puppet show addresses different types of abuse, with discussion emphasizing the importance of talking to a trusted adult. Students identify trusted adults and how to talk to them when they are uncomfortable.

Yes You Can Say No​

3rd Grade | 45 minutes
A 15-minute video followed by discussion teaches students how to stand up for themselves in the face of abuse and how to talk to a trusted adult. Students use problem-solving skills to figure out how to be safe in situations involving games, tricks, and secrecy.

Internet Safety + Cyberbullying​

4th Grade | 45 minutes
Students learn about internet safety and digital citizenship, empowering them to reflect on their own internet use, identify safe practices, and practice positive communication. We introduce the concepts of cyberbullying and bystander intervention.

Preventing Sexual Bullying​

5th Grade | 60 minutes
Building on knowledge of bullying, this program shifts focus to unwanted attention from peers. Students learn what they can do and where to turn for help if they encounter sexual bullying.

Free Resources for Families

Conversations about body safety with the children in our lives can be a deeply bonding experience. It’s a chance to affirm how much you care about their safety and to remind them that no one has the right to give them an unsafe touch. If you are not sure where to start a conversation about safety, we’re here to help. Our core concepts are reinforced for every age group, and with each grade there is additional complexity to our core concepts to match the child’s lived experience.
 
SAFE TOUCH CORE CONCEPTS
 
  1. Safe, Unsafe, and Confusing Touches.
    1. Safe touches make you feel good and happy. They are touches that you are okay giving and getting, like a high five or a fist bump. 
    2. Unsafe Touches hurt your body and your feelings. These touches are not okay for other people to give you or for you to give other people, like hitting, kicking, or biting.
    3. Confusing Touches might not hurt your body, but might make you feel worried, uncomfortable, or nervous, like a hug that’s too tight or tickling for too long. Another example of an unsafe or confusing touch would be if someone tried to touch the private parts of your body.
  2. Follow the Safety Saying.
    1. If someone gives you a touch on your body that makes you feel confused, worried, or nervous – there are three steps you can follow. You have a right to Say No, Get Away, and Tell Someone!
  3. Your body belongs to you.
    1. You are the boss of your own body! That means you get to decide what kinds of touches you like and what kinds of touches you don’t. You can ask someone before giving them a safe touch, like a hug, to see if they’re okay with it.
  4. No secrets, only surprises.
    1. You do not ever have to keep secrets about touches. If someone tries to make you keep a secret about a touch, you do not have to listen to them! You have the right to tell an adult that you trust right away. If you ever get a touch that makes you feel worried, nervous, or scared, it’s always okay to tell a trusted adult.
  5. It’s NEVER your fault!
    1. If someone else decides gives you an unsafe touch, that is NEVER your fault! It doesn’t matter if someone is your age, older than you, or an adult – no one has the right to give you an unsafe touch. Even if you didn’t tell the person to stop when they gave you an unsafe touch, it would still not be your fault.
 
Click below for our conversation guides on how to discuss these core concepts in depth with different age groups.

Caregiver Discussion + Resource Guide: Body Safety
This guide is intended to support parents and caregivers in navigating body safety conversations with their kids.
Click here to download

Safe Touch Review Guide for Pre-K – 1st Grade Caregivers: Your Body Belongs to You
After receiving a Safe Touch lesson or having a talk about body safety, there are many ways to continue the conversation throughout the year. Below is a guide to help you reinforce the safety concepts your child has learned.

Click here to download
Tu cuerpo te pertenece: Guía de conversación (preescolar y 1er grado)

Safe Touch Review Guide for 2nd-3rd Grade Caregivers: Staying Safe
After Receiving a Safe Touch lesson or having a talk about body safety, there are many ways to continue the conversation throughout the year. Below is a guide to help you reinforce the safety concepts your child has learned.
Click here to download
Mantenerse seguro: Guía de conversación (2º y 3º grado)

Caregiver Lesson + Resource Guide: Internet Safety
Grades 3rd – 5th

Students are using the internet and technology now more than ever to keep up with schoolwork, friends, family, and entertainment. This guide is intended to support caregivers in navigating internet safety conversations with their kids.
Click here to download

Safe Touch Review Guide for 4th Grade Caregivers: Internet Safety + Cyberbullying
After receiving a Safe Touch lesson or having a talk about body safety, there are many ways to continue the conversation throughout the year. Below is a guide to help you reinforce the safety concepts your child has learned.

Click here to download
Seguridad en Internet + Ciberbullying: Guía de conversación  (4to grado)

Caregiver Lesson + Resource Guide: Preventing Sexual Bullying
5th Grade
Caregivers are encouraged to use this guide with the accompanying Safe Touch Online video series, “Flirting Not Hurting: What is Sexual Bullying?”. The lesson is intended to provide information and skills to recognize the difference between flirting and sexual bullying, be aware of others’ boundaries, and engage in healthy communication.
Click here to download the lesson guide

Safe Touch Review Guide for 5th Grade Caregivers: Sexual Bullying
After receiving a Safe Touch lesson or having a talk about body safety, there are many ways to continue the conversation throughout the year. Below is a guide to help you reinforce the safety concepts your child has learned.

Click here to download

El Bullying Sexual: Guía de conversación(5to grado)

 

Safe Touch Coloring Book
“You Are a Special Person” is one of OCRCC’s take home materials from our Safe Touch programs. The story accompanying the coloring pages make this an excellent way to review body safety with your children and start important discussions at home! The language and images in this coloring book are designed to be age-appropriate for children ages 3-7, though it could be fun for anyone!
Click here to download in English
Click here to download in Spanish
Click here to download in Burmese
Click here to download in Karen

Feelings Thermometer and Coping Skills Chart
With this kid-friendly graphic you can build social and emotional learning by taking your feelings temperature. When you know how you feel, you can know how to take care of yourself!
Click here to download

Safe Touch Conversation Guide: No Secrets, Only Surprises: Sami’s Story
This is a conversation guide for adults discussing our Safe Touch video lesson with young people ages 7-11. “Sami’s Story” provides age-appropriate, kid-friendly language to help protect children from sexual abuse

Click here to download

Helping Kids Stay Safe Brochure
A Guide for Adults On Preventing Child Sexual Abuse

Helping Kids Stay Safe
Helping Kids Stay Safe (EN)
How To Talk To Children About Staying Safe (EN)
Ayudar a mantener a los niños seguros
Cómo hablarles a sus hijos sobre mantenerse seguros

Safe Touch FAQs

Child sexual abuse includes any sexual act between an adult and a minor or between two minors when one exerts power over the other. CSA includes forcing, coercing, or persuading a child to engage in any type of sexual act. It also includes non-contact acts such as exhibitionism, exposure to pornography, voyeurism, and communicating in a sexual manner by phone or the Internet.

Kids learn how to recognize inappropriate behavior and react when someone makes them uncomfortable. By teaching kids to “say no, get away, tell someone,” Safe Touch prevents abuse in several ways:

  1. Children with the confidence to say no and report abuse are perceived as less vulnerable by abusers and are therefore less likely to be victimized.
  2. Because most abuse gradually escalates over time, teaching kids to identify and report inappropriate behavior early helps prevent further or more severe abuse.
  3. Safe Touch helps children already suffering from abuse to find the strength and the language to report it. Staff and volunteers are trained to look for ‘red flags’ during our programs that might suggest a child is at risk.

Our curriculum is truly comprehensive, with each year’s lesson building on the skills students have learned in the past years. Safe Touch aims to prevent sexual abuse by helping students fully understand safe and healthy relationships. By learning that “your body belongs to you” at a young age, children easily grasp the concept of consent when it is introduced as “flirting vs. bullying” in upper elementary and middle school. Start Strong, our middle school program, has a peer-to-peer focus, teaching tweens that sexual behaviors such as holding hands and hugging are only okay if the other person wants to do it. By learning to respect boundaries at a young age, teens have a deeper understanding of healthy relationships when they learn about communication, consent, and sexual assault in high school. Building key concepts and skills over several years allows students to learn boundaries, communication, and consent in a more effective, lasting way. Furthermore, our programs are based on the best available research, follow national best practice standards, and are provided by highly trained educators.

We offer Safe Touch programs  in both English and Spanish, as well as a special curriculum for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Contact us to discuss how we can customize programs for your group.

What Parents Are Saying

“The [lessons] were all age-appropriate, and they did a good job of exposing students to these important issues without making them unnecessarily uncomfortable.”

“I know that the Safe Touch program really empowered [my daughter]. Knowing that she has these skills and the understanding that her body is her own makes me sleep better at night!"

“The content was clear, simple, and age-appropriate. I personally felt empowered that I can teach my child appropriately in ways that will help her stay safe.”

Request a Safe Touch Program

Safe Touch programs are currently only available in North Carolina.