Protective behaviours
- Adolescence
- Bodies
- Body image
- Consent
- Contraception
- Disabilities
- Emotional literacy
- Families
- Family and domestic violence
- Friendships
- Gender
- Gender diversity
- Guidelines
- Health education
- Health literacy
- Help seeking
- Immunisation
- Intersex variations
- Intimate relationships
- Law
- Media literacy
- Mental health
- Multicultural
- Online
- Parenting
- Pornography
- Protective behaviours
- Puberty
- Reproduction
- Research and reports
- Safer sex
- Sex education
- Sexting
- Sexual diversity
- Sexual health
- Sexual abuse
- Sexualisation
- STIs and BBVs
Protective behaviours
Barriers and prompts to parent-child sexual communication
A research report from 2016 investigating what prompts parents to start the conversation about sexuality with their children. Many parents feel that their children are too young to talk about sexuality, and often don't know how to start the conversation. This article addresses barriers that parents experience in regards to talking about sexuality with their children.
Because it's my body!
Topics: protective behaviours, child abuse prevention, bodily autonomy, safety, art.
Fiction
Focusing on empowerment and prevention, this approachable book gives young children a way to reject unwanted, possibly harmful physical contact by adults and other kids.
Age: 4 to 7 years.
Cool Australia
A range of teaching resources and professional development including an eSafety unit of work.
eSafeKids
eSafeKids educates, equips and empowers children and young people to have safe and positive experiences. eSafeKids support and inspire parents, carers, educators and other professionals to talk with children about Protective Behaviours, body safety, esafety, digital wellness and pornography. Services include: professional development, parent/carer and student workshops. Resources to teach: protective behaviours, body safety, consent, media literacy, digital wellness, cyber safety, pornography and more.
Everyone's got a bottom
A picture book to start conversations about public and private body parts, introducing the concept of protective behaviours. Written in a light and positive tone.
Family Planning Victoria (FPV)
Provides reproductive and sexual health services throughout Victoria. Includes a section on school programs.
Get the Facts - 'Laugh and Learn' videos
Check out the Get the Facts 'Laugh and Learn' series of videos on the Get the Facts website. Designed to make young people laugh while they learn about puberty, condoms, BBVs and keeping safe in sexual situations.
Lessons learned from child sexual abuse research: prevalence, outcomes, and preventive strategies
This article aims to heighten awareness of mental health professional on the widespread social problem of child sexual abuse. The focus is on prevalence, mental health outcomes, and preventative strategies.
Let's talk about body boundaries, consent and respect
A 42 page picture book that teaches children about body boundaries, both theirs and others, and consent in relation to their personal space. Child friendly, providing scenarios for parents and trusted adults to discuss a child's growing sense of self with them.
Jayneen Sanders reads the book (13min 36sec – length of video) .
Let's talk about the birds and the bees
Non-fiction
Cartoon illustrated book for parents to read to children about differences between male and female reproductive systems, private body parts, sexual intercourse, love, puberty, what touching is ok/not ok, families. Simple facts as a starting point for conversations.
Book review by Cath Hak 6min (external link)
Age: Parents and teachers of 4 to 11 year olds.
Let's talk about where babies come from
Non-fiction
Comics and cartoons outlining: similarities and differences between girls and boys, growing up, reproductive organs, how babies are made, what sex is, what is love, same sex attraction, conception, pregnancy, different types of birth, genetics (e.g. hair colour), different kinds of families, keeping safe (consensual touch), HIV (but not other STI/BBVs). A book that parents/teachers can read to younger children, or older children can read themselves.
Book review by Cath Hak 4min 36sec.
Age: 7 to 11 years.
Let's Yarn!
Let’s Yarn! has been developed to make it easier for educators, parents and health professionals to talk to young Aboriginal people about ways of developing strong, safe and healthy relationships. The website brings together useful resources developed by WA Health and other government and non-government agencies around Australia.
Mandatory Consent Education in Australia
Article that discusses the mandatory teaching of consent in Australian schools focusing on how consent is an integral part of all relationships but how education in schools must continue to develop and listen to young people in terms of how relationships are taught to students.
My body belongs to me
Fiction
A straightforward story of a young girl that was sexually abused by a friend's uncle. The young girl tells her mum and dad who help her. Explains that it is not her fault. A rhyming book.
My body belongs to me from my head to my toes
Fiction
A story that covers safe touch, personal space, types of touch, how to say no to unwanted touch, and how to tell someone if abuse has happened. Includes a letter to parents/carers.
National Association for Prevention of Child abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN)
NAPCAN's strategy is to support and encourage changes in individual and community behaviour to stop child abuse and neglect before it starts by: promoting quality child abuse prevention research; advocating for child safe policies and strategies, coordinating National Child Protection Week and promoting the Play Your Part strategy; demonstrating good practice; supporting the safety and wellbeing of children and young people.
Not as simple as 'no means no': what young people need to know about consent
A news article from The Conversation written by Jacqui Hendriks from Curtin University.
Parent-adolescent sexual communication and adolecent safer sex behavior: a meta-analysis
An article describing the importance of parent-adolescent communication to reduce risky sexual behaviour in young people.
PB West
PB West provide Protective Behaviours education training and information for schools, educators and parents.
Responding to children and young people's disclosures of abuse
Practice brief addressing children's and young people's disclosure of abuse. It offers suggestions to parents, family members, friends, professionals or others to help respond to children and young people at the time of disclosure and in the longer term.