The Importance of Education

As the school year begins, let us take a moment to think about the importance of education. Education is present all over our society. Without a good education, it is harder to succeed in life. What does this good education include? In school students learn how to count, how to read, and many other important lessons. What about the lessons most applicable to real life? Most children are taught very young about the importance of “Stranger Danger.” Ask any child over 7, and most will tell you that they are not allowed to talk to strangers. Stranger Danger is a good lesson to teach our children. However, it is not the most valuable. As mentioned in previous blogs, most sexual violence is committed by someone that the victim knows, and this is especially true with children (see our blog about grooming techniques used by perpetrators). So the question remains: if sexual violence is a major issue in our society, and our children continue to be victimized, why is there not more education about sexual violence in school?

Sexual violence education is NOT sex ed. The lack of knowledge about program content creates a lot of hurdles with the school administrators. Administrators are reluctant to even return a phone call if the word sexual is mentioned at all. When approaching new schools about starting our Personal Body Safety program, our educator has seen the look of disgust that shows on the administrator’s face. “That’s an issue to be discussed at home.” “I don’t want to open up that can of worms.” What do these comments tell us? Sexual violence education is not a priority in the schools, and that needs to change. Yes, this is an issue that should ALSO be discussed at home. But what if it is not happening? What if the violence is occurring AT home? The perpetrators do not want their victims to hear that it is wrong and the child can say No and get help. And that is exactly why the education has to be included at the schools. Sexual violence education should be as easily included in the curriculum as any other safety or awareness campaign.

Yes, sometimes tough issues are hard to talk about. But by keeping sexual violence shrouded in silence, it perpetuates the secrecy surrounding the violence itself. We must break that silence and make sexual violence an issue that people DO discuss. Without discussion, how can we teach our children the skills they need to help prevent it? Without prevention, the violence will only continue. No one wants to learn that their child has been a victim. So let us empower them through education and teach them that they have a voice. We just have to help them find it.