Most safeguarding policies are long documents written for donors. Children need something they can actually remember. We teach three rules and one route:
Rule 1 — My body belongs to me
No one may touch a child in a way that hurts, scares or confuses them — and no adult may ask a child to keep a touch secret. Teach the difference between safe touches (a nurse treating a wound, a parent helping a small child wash) and unsafe or secret touches. The child's feeling is the signal: if it feels wrong, it is right to say no and to tell.
Rule 2 — No bad secrets
Surprises (a birthday gift) end soon and make people happy. Bad secrets have no ending and come with pressure: "don't tell anyone, or else." Teach the sentence: "We don't keep secrets that make us feel bad — we tell."
Rule 3 — I know my safe adults
Every child should be able to name three adults they could tell anything — ideally not all from the same household. Practise naming them. Ask: "If something scared you and I wasn't there, who would you tell?"
The one route — tell until someone helps
Teach that telling is never wrong, and that if the first adult does not help, you tell the next one. In Uganda, anyone — including a child — can call the free Child Helpline 116, day or night.
Making it stick
- Ask, don't lecture: "What would you do if…?" games work better than warnings.
- Revisit each school term — once is not taught.
- Believe first. How you react to a small disclosure decides whether you hear the big one.