Children cannot disclose what they have not been taught to understand.
For many children experiencing abuse, the first barrier to speaking out is not unwillingness. It is confusion. They may know something feels wrong, but they may not have the language to describe it, the confidence to question it, or the understanding that it should not be happening.
This is something I understand deeply. As a child, I did not know that what was happening to me was wrong. And if I did not know it was wrong, how could I have known to speak out?
This is where body safety education can make a meaningful difference.
Body safety education gives children age-appropriate information about boundaries, consent, trusted adults, unsafe secrets, and the importance of speaking up when something feels wrong. One important example is Kids in the Know, a body safety and child personal safety program that helps children build personal safety awareness in a way that is clear, practical, and appropriate for their stage of development.
Programs like Kids in the Know matter because they give children language. They help children understand that their bodies belong to them, that unsafe secrets should not be kept, that boundaries matter, and that they can tell a safe adult when something does not feel right.
This education does not place the responsibility for protection on children. That responsibility belongs to adults. Parents, caregivers, educators, organizations, and communities must create environments where children are safe, listened to, and believed.
But children also deserve knowledge. They deserve words for their experiences. They deserve to understand that their instincts matter and that they are allowed to speak up.
No prevention program can protect every child from harm. But body safety education can change what a child understands, when they speak, and how adults respond. It can help a child recognize unsafe behaviour earlier. It can make it easier for them to tell someone. It can help them understand that abuse is never their fault. It can also help adults recognize the importance of listening carefully when a child is trying to communicate distress.
For me, this work is deeply personal and part of a larger commitment to prevention. My advocacy has included raising public awareness, prevention training, and years of work to advance the Kids in the Know Body Safety Program in schools across Newfoundland and Labrador.
That work reflects a simple but urgent belief: children deserve prevention education before harm happens, not only support after it has occurred.
This is why prevention education matters so deeply to the Miles for Smiles Foundation community. It gives us a way to turn awareness into action, and it reminds us that protecting children requires more than good intentions. It requires education, awareness, courage, and a willingness to have difficult but necessary conversations.
Body safety education is not a complete solution, but it is an essential part of prevention. Programs like Kids in the Know help support safer conversations in homes, schools, and communities. They give children language without placing the burden of protection on them. They remind adults that each of us has a role to play: by learning, listening, creating safe spaces for children to speak, supporting prevention education, and believing children when they tell us something is wrong.
When children are given the words, they are better able to speak.
When adults are prepared to listen, children are more likely to be heard.
And when communities make prevention a priority, we move closer to a world where children are safer, survivors are supported, and silence no longer has the final word.
Through education, awareness, and collective action, we can help protect children before harm happens.