About the Book
Even good parents often underestimate the dangers their children face. Research indicates that one in four females and one in six males are sexually abused before age eighteen. In most cases, the enemy is not a faceless stranger; it’s someone you know and trust – a neighbor, a coach, or even a family member.
This book provides practical steps to ensure you’re doing all you can to reduce the risks of abuse. But since you cannot be with your children 24/7, it goes beyond what you can do as a parent to teach you how to increase your child’s own awareness and strategies in the face of potential dangers – without making them fearful.
Dr. Robinson, whose decades-long practice focuses on abused and endangered children, calls on her own case studies to show age-appropriate conversation starters for parents, teaching them how to ask the right questions and provide the right boundaries.
This book will help you move from fear to confidence on this heavy topic that is just too important to ignore.
My Personal Review ~ 4.5 stars
Protecting Your Child From Predators: How to Recognize and Respond to Sexual Danger is a great resource for parents concerning the subjects of sexuality, sexual abuse, and how to protect their children in this area. I found this book very informational, and I plan on referencing it in the future if I have children of my own. And even just as an older sister and someone who works with children, it’s helpful to know things to look for and be aware of.
The fact is, we live in a fallen world. Because of sin, God’s beautiful, perfect design for our sexuality and sexual intimacy is sometimes perverted in awful ways. Too often, we hear heartbreaking stories of sexual abuse and harm. Protecting Your Child From Predators takes a serious, faith-based approach and helps you understand how to talk with your young children to teenagers about sexuality, God’s good plan, and what is a safe or unsafe touch, etc.
Beth Robinson, a licensed professional counselor, and Latayne C. Scott talk about the dangers of the internet and the sexual predators who infiltrate this realm. As well as date rape and being aware of those who seek to lure young teens into sex trafficking. But they also make it clear that sexual abuse often happens where we thought there was safety … such as in church or at the hands of family members or long-time family friends.
We must not live in fear, but the authors stress that being aware and having knowledge about these things are vital. As parents, you should be taking practical steps to keep your children safe. Just talking to them and making them aware of their value as a human created in God’s image and the sacredness of their sexuality is huge! This book talks about the boundaries that children should know that “safe adults” have … and if any adult oversteps that, your child has the right to say “no!”.
Protecting Your Child from Predators is a book I would recommend highly. I feel it turns our gaze to Christ and takes a practical approach instead of filling the reader with fear. Yes, there are dangers in this world. We should do our part to protect those entrusted into our care. But then we entrust them into God’s hands and care. And know that there is healing and hope, even in the case of sexual abuse! Our Father is a great healer.
I received a copy of Protecting Your Child from Predators from Bethany House Publishers. This review is honest and all my own.
Lady Grace ~ a quiet & gentle spirit 