I have a number of friends currently teaching in primary schools who have told me that while they would love to use Some Secrets Should Never Be Kept in their classrooms, they feel they cannot because the education department currently does not provide any support for teaching protective behaviours.

Given it is such an emotive subject, many (most) teachers feel it is ‘too hot a topic’ to broach with their students without explicit guidelines and training to protect them.

Consider the statistics quoted above in relation to a class of 30 students with an even distribution of girls and boys: 3 of the girls and 2 of the boys will or have been interfered with. In many of the cases, the perpetrator will be one of the main carers or extended family. This makes the issue of teaching protective behaviours in schools such an explosive one.

Policy makers have to provide the necessary scaffolding for a protective behaviours program and then mandate that it be taught in every classroom in Australia. Such a policy, if implemented well, could prevent thousands of young lives being irrevocably damaged each year. It would not put an end to child abuse but many abusers would be exposed and many children protected.