Say No to Hang Man.

Helping children say “no” to predatory adults is important. When a sexual predator attempts to convince your child that the behavior is acceptable, your child needs to know that there are situations where they can say “no” to an adult.

Despite many toddlers starting their vocal repertoire with the word “no”, we soon let them know that it’s not nice to say “no” to grownups. Umm…it is not nice that some grownups sexually abuse our children. Our children need to practice saying “no” so that when they really need to say it, they already know they can do it.

Play the following practice game to help your child understand that it is okay to say “no” in some situations:

Don’t hang the person: This game is a variation of the world favorite “Hang Man”. Pick a longish statement that both fits your child’s situation, and incorporates them being able to say “no”. For example, “When someone wants you to be low, you can turn around and tell them “no”!” It is important to pick a long statement with lots of different letters because you do not want your child to end up hanged. Make this impossible to happen. For the example statement, you would draw the spaces up as:
- - - - / - - - - - - - / - - - - - / - - - / - - / - - / - - -, / - - - / - - - / - - - - / - - - - - - / - - - / - - - - / - - - - / “- -!”.

As your child says a letter from the alphabet, you write it in the appropriate space. If the child picks a letter that is not contained in the statement, one part of the hangman stand with dangling stick body is drawn.

This game can include statements to fit any of the BITSS pieces. I always follow the statement up by asking the child how they will say “no” to someone bigger than them or in a position of power. I do this to help cement the ability to say “no” and to increase the child’s confidence that there are some things that big people just cannot do, no matter how much authority they have.

For further free games, activities and ideas on how to help your child say "no", click here.

What are your thoughts on helping your child practice saying “no”?