BY TIMOTHY LA ROCHE
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CLAREMONT — A Claremont-based social services network will implement a pilot program for Claremont schools to teach sexual abuse awareness and violence prevention to elementary and middle school students.
The Claremont School Board unanimously approved a measure this week that allows Turning Points Network, a domestic and sexual violence prevention and advocacy group, to implement the Healthy Relationships Project into Claremont public school curricula.
The program provides training for staff, parents and children about sexual abuse through a series of sessions aimed at students in grades two through five. Parents will be able to opt their children out of the program, Assistant Superintendent Cory LeClair said. The pilot program is slated to go live in mid-March until the end of the school year with potential to continue the program in the future.
Topics covered in earlier grades include finding ways to cope with rejection and understanding personal boundaries.
“We know that when adults around kids are equipped to talk to children about preventing sexual abuse and when they are equipped to hear disclosures and respond to them, we can ensure our kids safe,” Turning Points Network Community Educator Emily Marrazzo said.
According to Marrazzo, the program acknowledges that many children have experienced some form of abuse and aims to educate while avoiding more trauma.
“We know that any program worth its salt is developmentally appropriate,” Marrazzo said. “These are big concepts, some of the things we are teaching … it’s delivered in a way that kids can grab onto.”
The program is a response to Senate Bill 460, requiring school boards to ensure that districts teach about child abuse as part of their health and physical fitness curricula.
The bill was introduced on Jan. 6, 2016, and moved to the House of Representatives on Feb. 2, 2016. It passed and was signed by then-Gov. Maggie Hassan on May 5, 2016.
“Part of our violence prevention program has always been talking about body safety and talking about preventing violence before it happens,” Marrazzo said of SB 460.
“We are using this to shift our focus a bit… it’s legislation that says all schools must provide sexual abuse prevention programming to kids.”
District administrators said that the program’s implementation allows the district to leverage community partners in providing the education rather than developing the curriculum with internal staff. Aspects of the program can be tweaked in the future as needed.
“We have an internal check and balances process for our curriculum,” LeClair said. “This program has gone through the curriculum council and has been vetted at that level to move forward … the curriculum is mandated by law, so it’s one of those state requirements that we need to accommodate.”
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