Child Safety Matters - Susie's Place

What is Child Safety Matters?

Child Safety Matters (CSM) is a comprehensive, evidence-based curriculum for elementary school students in grades K-5.

The program educates and empowers children and all relevant adults with information and strategies to prevent, recognize, and respond appropriately to bullying, cyberbullying, all types of abuse, and digital abuse dangers.

A different course for teens is available called Teen Safety Matters.

Prevention education for schools

The program was developed with schools to make the best use of existing resources and ensure schools have effective programs that are easy to implement.

What’s included in Child Safety Matters?

It is presented in two comprehensive lessons ranging from
35-55 minutes by trained facilitators in classrooms.

Facilitators present turnkey scripts along with engaging,
interactive PowerPoints including:

Lecture
Videos
Group discussion
Games
Skills-practice activities

Child safety matters instruction in a classroom

“This made me reflect on past students that could have been experiencing abuse; however, I didn’t read the signs.”
— Local teacher who attended a recent adult Darkness 2 Light Training

Program topics include two lessons

Lesson 1

• Safety awareness
• Shared responsibility for safety
• Safe Adults
• Types of abuse
• Red Flags
• Safety Rule

Lesson 2

• Bullying
• Cyberbullying
• Digital abuse
• Digital safety tips
• Digital citizenship
• Safety Rules

All programs are based in evidence and research

Two independent research studies have examined the effectiveness of the program with positive results for both student knowledge gains and facilitator implementation fidelity.

What parents, educators, and physicians are saying

“I was nervous about the “talk” today. Kids came home talking about it openly and were very informative. I think that it was a great thing to have at our school.”
— Parent

“I am beyond thrilled that Mr. Hathaway, our school counselor, is teaching all of our 8th-grade students about consent. This is such an important topic that up until this year has never before been taught in our school.” Thank you again, for supporting this vital program to schools. Together, we are truly making a difference!“
— North Putnam Middle School teacher

“The body safety curriculum, Child and Teen safety Matters being taught by Susie’s place in our school system works! I have been a pediatrician in Hendricks County for 28 years and in the last 2 years I have noticed both my patients and their parents using language from the class. They are talking about safe adults, teaching their kids proper terms for body parts, recognizing red flags. It is pretty amazing to hear them using the terms they learn at school. This is a great program and is helping to keep our kids safe. It is empowering kids and adults to talk about things that have been difficult to discuss in the past”.

— Dr. Christine Bender, Hendricks Pediatrics