ve 14 - Friday, March 29, 1985 - North Shore News N. SHORE PROFESSIONALS ARMED Fighting child sex abuse LOCAL PROFESSIONALS and parents have been given the weapons with which to fight child sexual abuse. By JOANNE MacDONALD All they have to do now is ensure it is implemented in the North Shore school systems, At a meeting held Tues- day, Diane Langston of the Surrey-based Child Abuse Research and Education (CARE) Productions of B.C. told parents and pro- fessionals the CARE kit — through books, message cards, taped music and pup- DIANE LANGSTON displays dolls that are part of a kit - pets — provides classroom information to primary gerade children on how to prevent sexual abuse. [1 was developed after CAKE statistics showed that children aged five to nine represented the most vulner- able group of ‘potential scx- ual abuse victims. Langston said the kit, produced by the non-profit CARE group, has been fully implemented into programs in ooth the Surrey and Ab- botsford schocl districts. She said virtually every other B.C school district is pres- ently in the process of cither previewing, piloting or im- plementing the program. NEWS photo lan Smith aimed at better equipping children to fight off sexual assaults. Langston said the major impetus for the kit resulted from a 1986 request by the Surrey RCMP to the local school board to assist in the drive t6 curb the growing problem of , child sexual abuse. She said up to 50 people became involved in’ the development of the kit over a period of four years, with the kit tested in both Cana- dian and U.S. schools. Ht was also the subject of two 742 Westview Centre North Vancouver (986-1341 a OPEN DAILY 9:30 - 6:00 B THURS. & FRI. 9:30-9:00 SUNDAYS 12:00 - 5:00 masters” theses, The organization is tund- ed through grants, donations and through the income from sales of its produe- tions. Income from sales of productions is used to fi- nance additional research and prodcution of education materials. Langston said before the CARE program can be used in the classroom, permission must be obtained trom the parents of the children in- volved. She said parents are required to attend informa. ional meetings to view the kits prior to their use in the classroom, Training sessions are then held, usually for teachers of primary grades, who then return) to the school and train) other teachers. “It's recommended that teachers handle the program because of the relationship between kids and their primary teachers. The teach- er is able to pick up on dif- ferent fcelings and behavior of these kids over a period of time,’ said Langston, adding children taking the program usually end up feel- ing responsible for teaching other kids about sexual abuse prevention, “So even if some children are not permitted to take the program, the other kids usually ensure the isolated kids get the salient facts anyways,"’ said Langston. © Choose from many brand names @ Free lessons @ Qualified instructors , © 1 year warranty © Trade-ins welcome & ® Call now 986-1341 . Now through April 8th, Esso is redeeming all oil company coupons at $2.00. Coupon restrictions apply. Minimum 25 litre purchase.