“One in four women and one in six men have been or will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime.” (from God Made All of Me by Justin and Lindsey Holcomb) Those are sobering statistics. What can parents do to protect their children? A good first step is to educate yourself and your kids about appropriate and inappropriate touch.
God Made All of Me: A Book to Help Children Protect Their Bodies by Justin and Lindsey Holcomb is an excellent resource to help parents teach their children about inappropriate touch without making them feel ashamed or embarrassed about their private parts that God created. The story is basically a dialogue between two parents (mother and father) and their two children (son and daughter) about appropriate and inappropriate touch. Through the story kids will learn key concepts to help them avoid sexual assault while still appreciating the body God gave them.
Key concepts in the book for kids.
- Teaching kids that God made every part of them and every part is good (including their private parts).
- But, there are parts for sharing and parts to keep private.
- It also teaches kids the difference between secrets (when you don’t want someone to know something) and surprises (planning something fun for someone else like a party).
- Kids are also encouraged to say “no” to any type of touch that makes them uncomfortable or that they don’t want at that moment (including a kiss from grandma or a hug from a family friend).
Parents Beware
- This book has helpful information for parents on the topic of sexual abuse (and how to prevent it) that includes facts that you probably don’t want your child reading. Because of this, I suggest keeping the book in a location that only adults can get to. While this is a book to read to children, it is also one you don’t want your child reading on their own (especially the extra information for parents at the beginning and end of the book).
- Please be aware that this book uses the proper names for body parts and be prepared to read a list of private part names to your child in the context of the story.
- This book can be read to a wide age range of children with older children most likely having more questions and needing more discussion than younger ones. Because of this, I suggest reading this book to each of your children individually so that they can feel comfortable asking questions.
The authors suggest that this book be read to children between the ages of two and eight years old.
Final Thoughts
I wish we lived in a world that books like this were not necessary but the prevalence of sexual assault (especially to children) makes this a topic that we need to discuss with our kids. If you are finding it difficult to broach this subject with your young ones, I encourage you to utilize this excellent resource. I appreciate Justin and Lindsey Holcomb’s efforts in creating a book that teaches children about private parts and inappropriate touch while letting kids know that God created them and every part of their body is good.
“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31a
“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Psalm 139:14a
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