Special guest: Holly-ann Martin, founder of Safe4Kids talking with Justine

In this episode Justine talks with Holly-ann Martin, founder of Safe4Kids, which she established in 2011, to work towards child abuse prevention. In 2016, Holly-ann was inducted into the WA Women’s Hall of Fame, and some people may not know but she’s a very accomplished swing dancer. Holly-ann is working towards the reduction of child sexual abuse and so all her programs are built around the concepts of protective education. With 88% of pornography showing violence against women, 45% of all child sexual abuse being child-to-child or teenager-to-child, and with a 122% increase in online grooming over the last three years (due to Covid and children being on screens more) it would feel like an uphill battle. However, Holly-ann is tireless and dedicated. She chats in this episode with Justine Kiely-Scott.

Topics covered:

• the remote and other work Holly-ann does
• why Holly-ann doesn’t use the term ‘pornography’ with children under 10; and how she does talk about sexual material online
• Holly-ann says ‘it’s not just pornography. It’s horror and violence as well’
• how children in Holly-ann’s classes tell her the main places they see pictures of naked people are on YouTube and TikTok, and then after that iPhones and iPads
• what parents need to tell their children, to prepare for them seeing something online
• what children fear most about telling their parents that they’ve seen something
• the importance of adults modelling healthy expression of feelings
• safe versus unsafe secrets
• the key online safety tips parents should be aware of
• how parents can report child exploitation; what they should do if they see something on their child’s phone (and what they should not do)
• how parents can manage risk to their child at playdates; what sorts of things to think about
• the concept of the ‘No Trouble Bubble’
• why using technology as a punishment (ie threats to take it away) might not be a good idea
• difference between feelings and behaviour
• importance of children learning how to describe behaviour, eg instead of just saying ‘they were teasing me’ being able to say exactly what the other child was doing
• idea of family code words

Links mentioned in the show:

Online agreement for families (sign up to receive free at the link below, as well as read tips on keeping your kids safe online)
https://safe4kids.com.au/strategies-to-help-ensure-your-child-is-cyber-safe/ 

YouTube channel with all Holly-ann’s songs (and lots of other useful videos)
https://www.youtube.com/user/Thesafe4kids 

 Poster: what to do if a child discloses abuse
https://safe4kids.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Safe4Kids-Disclosure.pdf

Common Sense Media (reviews of games and films for parents to inform themselves and help them make decisions)
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

eSafety Commissioner
https://www.esafety.gov.au/ 

Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE)
https://www.accce.gov.au/ 

ThinkUKnow