Think carefully about the safety of situations…

Think carefully about the safety of situations in which older youth have access to younger children. Make sure that multiple adults are present who can supervise. Older or larger youth are perpetrators in at least 40% of sexual abuse incidences. Adolescent boys make up to 23% of sexual offenders. Supervising contact between children and older/bigger youth requires structure. There should be separate areas and activities for different age groups. Make it clear that you would always like an adult present with your child. Older youth need to have multiple adults present to supervise them in situations where they are employed or volunteer with helping younger children. They need to hear about maintaining boundaries and have appropriate adult modeling behavior that displays respect of children’s privacy.