The Safe Side Program - For Elementary School Children

One of the most important things we can do to protect children is to talk with them about potentially dangerous situations. This 1 hour program is geared toward children in Kindergarten through 3rd grade. This program starts with the viewing of an Emmy Award-winning DVD which introduces program participants to seven easy-to-remember “Hot Tips” for safety. Following the video, trained instructors from STSM speak with the children about safety and lead fun, interactive discussions to get the youth involved and help them remember what they learned from the video.

To schedule a Safe Side presentation for your elementary school-aged group, email STSM's Community Education Program Director or call STSM at 803-790-8208.

Good-Touch/Bad-Touch - For Elementary School Children

In January 2011, STSM expanded our prevention programming into Elementary Schools. We will now be offering Good-Touch/Bad-Touch® to select schools in Richland, Lexington, and Newberry counties.  GT/BT is a body safety program, which teaches our children a comfortable way to talk about a very sensitive problem. Unfortunately, one out of four girls and one out of six boys are sexually abused in our country by the time they turn 18 years old. Informing children of the following concepts helps to lessen their vulnerability to abuse:

1.      Touch can be good, bad, or confusing.

2.      Children are special and have the right to know all the body safety rules.

3.      Children can say NO! to touches they don’t like.

4.      Children can tell a trusted adult if they ever have a problem with sexual abuse, bullying or other confusing touches.

5.      Abuse is NEVER the child’s fault.

This program also deals with bullying.  It has been validated as effective by professionals from a major university and is being used in many states throughout the nation.  We are very pleased and excited to be involved.  A carefully trained facilitator from STSM offers three age-appropriate sessions to students that include songs, stories, videos, and role play activities. We also send home materials so that families can continue the lessons at home and reinforce them according to their own family culture and values.

Contact STSM's Community Education Director via email or phone at 803-790-8208 to find out more information or to schedule your school for Good-Touch/Bad-Touch®.

Mentors In Violence Prevention (MVP) Program - For Middle and High School Youth

The MVP Program was founded in 1993 at Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society in Boston, MA. This model works with youth in the middle and high school years to focus on creative "bystander" approaches to preventing gender violence and bullying. The MVP model has been implemented in a variety of academic, community, and other educational settings across the United States and is effective in working with varied and diverse populations. MVP is facilitated in a mixed-gender setting, with the boys and girls separating at various times throughout the sessions to work in boy-only and girl-only groups. The female-only group focuses on young women not as victims or potential targets of abuse, but as empowered bystanders and supportive friends. The male-only group focuses on young men not as perpetrators or potential perpetrators, but as empowered bystanders who can confront abusive peers.

The MVP Program usually runs once per week for six to 12 weeks. For more information about how Sexual Trauma Services of the Midlands facilitates the MVP program or to schedule a presentation, contact STSM's Community Education Director via email or by calling 803-790-8208.

Youth Violence Prevention Program (YVPP) - For Middle and High School Youth

Statistics show that from 1991-2003 more than half of all victims of rape in South Carolina were middle- and high school-aged youth (Against their Will: Sexual Violence in SC, June 2005). Dating violence is also a harsh reality that many youth face.

In response to these and other issues that youth face, STSM developed the Youth Violence Prevention Program (YVPP). This program is for middle and high school-aged youth. Utilizing the principals of effective prevention programming, this 6 lesson curriculum covers a wide range of topics geared toward reducing risk and preventing sexual and relationship violence. Trained facilitators use interactive activities, videos, songs, discussion, and lectures to teach youth about gender violence in the media, healthy boundary-setting and communication, on-line safety, dating violence, sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Each lesson lasts approximately an hour to 1 ½ hours and lessons are usually scheduled once/week.

Contact STSM's Community Education Director via email or call 803-790-8208 to schedule a presentation.