All of us at ASSIST are heartbroken by the recent events surrounding the recent disappearance and death of a young Fishers, Ind. teen. At the time of this writing, law enforcement believes a 17-year-old girl met a 39-year-old man via “online gaming.” They later met and fled the state, where investigators found her remains. The suspect is in custody.
Events like this highlight the need for abuse prevention education. Indiana is one of over three dozen states that require age-appropriate abuse prevention education in all K-12 classrooms, public, private, and charter.
The kind of education schools offer is left up to local districts and leadership.
ASSIST Indiana provides FREE prevention education to any school in our service area that requests it.
ASSIST’s high-quality prevention education:
- Provides dynamic, evidence-based lessons that are age-appropriate
- Teaches kids risks of online interactions, including gaming
- Helps kids help their friends by knowing the signs of abuse
- Empowers kids with a vocabulary to make an outrcy to a trusted adult
Ask your school principal to get started with ASSIST
You can encourage your local school to work with us. We don’t make money off our Prevention Education programs, and schools incur no costs beyond allocating time in their schedule, as required by Indiana law.
Copy and paste this email to your local school leadership:
Dear Principal,
I’m writing as a parent/caregiver in your district to ask about the child abuse prevention education currently being provided to students, as required under Indiana’s state mandate (Senate Bill 355, 2017).
I want to ensure my child receives age-appropriate education about boundaries, inappropriate behavior, and how to access help from trusted adults, both online and in person. Classroom-based prevention education plays an important role in reinforcing safety, building awareness, and ensuring all students receive access to critical information.
If prevention education is already being provided, I would be grateful to learn more about what that looks like. If not, ASSIST Indiana offers free programs. You can learn more about them at https://assistindiana.org/education/abuse-prevention-education/
I understand schools have many priorities, and I appreciate the work you and your staff do every day to support student well-being.
Thank you for your continued commitment to student safety and for taking the time to consider this important topic.
Sincerely,
(Your Name)
(Your Child’s Grade/Class, if desired)
Or, make a phone call using this script:
Hi, my name is (Your Name).
I’m calling to ask whether the school is currently providing child sexual abuse prevention education, as required under Indiana’s mandate, SB 355.
This is important to me as a parent, and I’d appreciate learning more about what prevention education looks like at the school, or whom I could follow up with if that would be helpful.
Thank you so much for your time.
