Holly-ann Martin recently completed a whistle-stop tour of the Northern Territory including a visit to Maningrida where she was interviewed on the community radio station.
Many thanks to the people of Maningrida who showed such warmth to Holly-ann and enthusiasm for the Protective Behaviours Programme.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Miss Martin takes a Risk on Purpose
I recently appeared on community television dancing to one of the songs from our Sing Yourself Safe CD. Click below to see Miss Martin taking a Risk on Purpose to let people know about the importance of privacy in teaching Protective Behaviours.
Protecting Kids in Cambodia
I have just returned from truly amazing yet very humbling two weeks in Cambodia where I was fortunate enough to do some work with children in a tiny school run by Japanese nuns. I needed two interpreters, one to translate into khmer for the children and teachers, the other into Japanese for the nuns. I taught fifty children aged between 4 and 8 for two hours, their little eyes were as wide as saucers and were glued to me throughout the session. I used puppets, songs and other resources to teach the two Themes, Early Warning Signs, Networks, Secrets and Public and Private.
I asked the children: "Do adults listen to children?" They very clearly responded: "NO!" And when I asked: "What is a stranger?" they all described "a mean person"; they didn't see me as a stranger because I was a woman. It just goes to show that these misconceptions are universally held by children the world over. I could have been in a remote community in the Kimberley or in a suburban school in Perth. In my experience, children's answers have always been the same and a simple change in a child's perception can have an enormous effect on their personal safety.
After the children left school, the staff volunteered to stay behind for a further two hours for basic training in Protective Behaviours education. Their feedback was overwhelming, they are aware that their children are at high risk, but they just didn't know where to start or the language to use. We all gained greatly from my visit to the school and I was deeply touched by their gratitude and enthusiasm.
Next I visited a centre run by a Korean organisation that provides lunch to five hundred children five days a week. I can see that a great opportunity exists for this organization to provide basic Protective Behaviours education for these children and I am determined to establish partnerships to make this happen in Asian countries where children are at higher risk.
Childwise, from Victoria in Australia, have an office in Phnom Penh and, after spending some time with their representative, I learnt a great deal about the amazing work they are doing to raise awareness about child abuse, not only in Cambodia, but throughout Asia. Child Safe is another organisation also actively involved in child protection in Asia.
People ask me: "Holly, the problem with child abuse is so great - where do we start?" My answer is always: Education. Childwise and other agencies are having an immeasurable impact on their communities by educating children and the public about child abuse. Teaching Protective Behaviours is the greatest starting point for initiating conversation, opening our eyes to the needs of children and mobilising communities to be pro-active and help keep kids safe.
After the children left school, the staff volunteered to stay behind for a further two hours for basic training in Protective Behaviours education. Their feedback was overwhelming, they are aware that their children are at high risk, but they just didn't know where to start or the language to use. We all gained greatly from my visit to the school and I was deeply touched by their gratitude and enthusiasm.
Next I visited a centre run by a Korean organisation that provides lunch to five hundred children five days a week. I can see that a great opportunity exists for this organization to provide basic Protective Behaviours education for these children and I am determined to establish partnerships to make this happen in Asian countries where children are at higher risk.
Childwise, from Victoria in Australia, have an office in Phnom Penh and, after spending some time with their representative, I learnt a great deal about the amazing work they are doing to raise awareness about child abuse, not only in Cambodia, but throughout Asia. Child Safe is another organisation also actively involved in child protection in Asia.
People ask me: "Holly, the problem with child abuse is so great - where do we start?" My answer is always: Education. Childwise and other agencies are having an immeasurable impact on their communities by educating children and the public about child abuse. Teaching Protective Behaviours is the greatest starting point for initiating conversation, opening our eyes to the needs of children and mobilising communities to be pro-active and help keep kids safe.
Child safe is an organisation that works to try and keep children safe by offering a safe place to stay. They also educate tuk tuk drivers about child protection and the signs of the tourist sex trade. The drivers wear printed shirts and have advertisements on the back of their vehicles to increase public awareness.
I witnessed naked children as young as 2 begging at major tourist attractions, an older child would come up and take the money off the younger one. Then an adult would appear and take the money off of the older child, take about a third world Oliver Twist.
Also blind adults with limbs missing, possible mine survivors, begging at the top of monuments, would have their money taken off of them. It’s difficult not to feel sorry for them but poster like these are important as the message they convey is by giving them money only keeps them in this situation.
Also blind adults with limbs missing, possible mine survivors, begging at the top of monuments, would have their money taken off of them. It’s difficult not to feel sorry for them but poster like these are important as the message they convey is by giving them money only keeps them in this situation.
There are warnings signs everywhere warning about the Child Sex Trade.
Hotels have signs up everywhere, some even have them on there front warning that it will not be tolorated. They train their staff as to what to do if they suspect anything. I heard of a family who were almost turned away, they had addopted an asian child, luck for them they had her passsport and could prove that they had a right to have their daughter with them.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Miss Martin's Travels
What an amazing three months I've had! Starting with a very successful week in Fitzroy Crossing, working in the school with staff and students, and training other community members including police officers, childcare staff and parents. The week ended with a community awareness day and the students participated in art and craft activities and performed at a whole school assembly, singing and signing some of our Protective Behaviour songs.
A week later I was on a plane to the UK for a hectic, but very rewarding, month of training practitioners all over the British Isles. The first week was in and around the Midlands, then up near Liverpool for a week, next down in Brighton and lastly up to Sheffield. Everyone I trained was very enthusiastic and excited to see our new resources, songs and activities that have been incorporated into our lesson plans. They also saw the importance of teaching Public and Private and will be taking a serious look at the wording of the second theme of Protective Behaviours. I'd like to thank everybody who attended my workshops and a special thanks to those who assisted me by organizing these events, it wouldn't have been possible without you.
While in the UK, I had the humbling experience of attending a court hearing on a child abuse case. This has only led to strengthening my resolve about importance of teaching public and private, and particularly the correct names for private body parts. Had the young female complainant used the correct terminology in her evidence, I'm sure the jury would have been compelled to convict. The disappointing result was instead a hung jury requiring a retrial. My greatest thanks to my wonderful Uncle and Aunt who made it possible for me to attend.
On my return to Perth I was invited to Derby to spend a week training and mentoring teachers and children in the primary school. I believe child protection needs to be implemented with a whole community approach so in the evening I ran community workshops which were very well attended by police officers, parents and other community members alike. They agreed that it was important for everybody to understand the language and principles of Protective Behaviours for it to be effective in the community and they expressed their support for teaching Protective Behaviours in their school.
A personal highlight for me was meeting up with two students I had taught over a year ago in another remote community. They exclaimed: "I remember you!" and both broke out singing our Public and Private song. I had tears in my eyes I was so proud. Throughout the lessons they kept interrupting with "Don't forget this, Miss!" or "You haven't told them that, Miss!" They had recalled everything I had taught them over year ago. It is extremely difficult to quantify and measure the outcomes of teaching Protective Behaviours and there are critics who will claim that the lack of evidence based research on this topic precludes it from compulsory curriculum in schools. My personal view is that Protective Behaviours can provide a common benchmark for all children, when taught free from prejudice and without ambivalent metaphors or analogy, and these students affirmed for me that, when taught correctly, these ideas do stay with them and they, in turn, will introduce them to others.
A week later I was on a plane to the UK for a hectic, but very rewarding, month of training practitioners all over the British Isles. The first week was in and around the Midlands, then up near Liverpool for a week, next down in Brighton and lastly up to Sheffield. Everyone I trained was very enthusiastic and excited to see our new resources, songs and activities that have been incorporated into our lesson plans. They also saw the importance of teaching Public and Private and will be taking a serious look at the wording of the second theme of Protective Behaviours. I'd like to thank everybody who attended my workshops and a special thanks to those who assisted me by organizing these events, it wouldn't have been possible without you.
While in the UK, I had the humbling experience of attending a court hearing on a child abuse case. This has only led to strengthening my resolve about importance of teaching public and private, and particularly the correct names for private body parts. Had the young female complainant used the correct terminology in her evidence, I'm sure the jury would have been compelled to convict. The disappointing result was instead a hung jury requiring a retrial. My greatest thanks to my wonderful Uncle and Aunt who made it possible for me to attend.
On my return to Perth I was invited to Derby to spend a week training and mentoring teachers and children in the primary school. I believe child protection needs to be implemented with a whole community approach so in the evening I ran community workshops which were very well attended by police officers, parents and other community members alike. They agreed that it was important for everybody to understand the language and principles of Protective Behaviours for it to be effective in the community and they expressed their support for teaching Protective Behaviours in their school.
A personal highlight for me was meeting up with two students I had taught over a year ago in another remote community. They exclaimed: "I remember you!" and both broke out singing our Public and Private song. I had tears in my eyes I was so proud. Throughout the lessons they kept interrupting with "Don't forget this, Miss!" or "You haven't told them that, Miss!" They had recalled everything I had taught them over year ago. It is extremely difficult to quantify and measure the outcomes of teaching Protective Behaviours and there are critics who will claim that the lack of evidence based research on this topic precludes it from compulsory curriculum in schools. My personal view is that Protective Behaviours can provide a common benchmark for all children, when taught free from prejudice and without ambivalent metaphors or analogy, and these students affirmed for me that, when taught correctly, these ideas do stay with them and they, in turn, will introduce them to others.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Creating effective Networks for children
As a result of my experience teaching a wide range of children at varying levels of development, I have always taught networks in a very structured way. It is extremely important that children make their own choices about who they have on their Network but I have created a formula to guide them so as to create a Network that will be effective and as accessible as possible. Using the Network Hand model, I encourage children to choose a person from their home to go on the thumb, two people from school on the next two fingers and two people from the community on the remaining two fingers.
There are two reasons I have always encouraged children to choose an extra Network person at school. Firstly, a child with special needs may not have the cognitive skills to make the decision to tell somebody else at school if their designated Network person is unavailable. Secondly, children in remote communities may be limited in the number of people available to them, outside school, that they feel comfortable to include on their Network.Most recently, at a conference I attended in Queensland, a police officer spoke about having to interview children at school. She highlighted the fact that if a child discloses any form of abuse to a teacher, that teacher then becomes a witness. Should the child require a support person during the police interview, the teacher who received the disclosure will not be able to be present. It is therefore essential that a child has two trusted adults from school on their Network to be available and assist them through this process.For more information about the Network Hand model refer to our Parent's Helping Handbook or click here to download one of our Network Hand worksheets.
There are two reasons I have always encouraged children to choose an extra Network person at school. Firstly, a child with special needs may not have the cognitive skills to make the decision to tell somebody else at school if their designated Network person is unavailable. Secondly, children in remote communities may be limited in the number of people available to them, outside school, that they feel comfortable to include on their Network.Most recently, at a conference I attended in Queensland, a police officer spoke about having to interview children at school. She highlighted the fact that if a child discloses any form of abuse to a teacher, that teacher then becomes a witness. Should the child require a support person during the police interview, the teacher who received the disclosure will not be able to be present. It is therefore essential that a child has two trusted adults from school on their Network to be available and assist them through this process.For more information about the Network Hand model refer to our Parent's Helping Handbook or click here to download one of our Network Hand worksheets.
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