'Lauren's Kids' in Tallahassee elementary school for lesson on staying safe

One in three girls and one in five boys will experience sexual abuse before they turn 18, according to the Advocacy Center,

It's because of this daunting statistic and her own traumatic experiences, that state Sen. Lauren Book founded the Florida-based nonprofit organization Lauren's Kids in 2007 to help prevent child abuse and provide counseling to victims.

"I knew that we could change and turn the tide if we work on the front end, because 95% of abuse is preventable with education and awareness," said Book, a Plantation Democrat, said of her efforts as the charity's founder and CEO.

In commemoration of National Sexual Assault Awareness Month and National Child Abuse Prevention Month, Lauren's Kids visited the capital Monday on its 20-stop tour across Florida for its annual "Walk in My Shoes" event. It started at Kleman Plaza and ended at the Pace Center for Girls, a trek of about a mile.

Book also made a stop at Sabal Palm Elementary School to speak to kids about the importance of personal safety and how they can advocate for themselves by setting boundaries when they feel unsafe.

Book addressed students using excerpts from the "Safer, Smarter Kids" curriculum, created by the Lauren's Kids organization, which is now taught in 40 states. The 20-minute lesson started with a simple question: "Who determines what is safe?"

The students in the school's media center raised their hands, eager to answer the question.

One kid said, "the government."

Another, "my teacher," and most others said their parents.

"Actually, you do," Book told the students.

"We have to combat the norm of 'stranger danger' teaching, when the reality is that 90% of the time, children are abused by someone they know, love and trust," Book told the Tallahassee Democrat. "So, we need to teach children how to identify behaviors that make them feel unsafe and not quite right and how to access help."

"It's all about kids watching out for each other," Leon Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna said at the school. "If something happens that's not safe, it's important that they find an adult that's in their safe space and tells them."

As a child, Book was sexually assaulted by her nanny for six years. She said this is why the curriculum focuses on self-advocacy, which is more proactive and preventive, rather than "stranger danger," which is more commonly known.

"I'm a survivor of sexual abuse from the time I was 10 years old until I was 16 and from that experience, I learned that we have got to do better," she said in an interview.

She graduated from the University of Miami with her bachelor's degree in elementary education and creative writing in 2008 and then graduated in 2012 with a master's in community psychology and social change. She was first elected to the Florida Senate in 2016 and represents District 35, which covers part of Broward County.

The students learned the acronym "T-F-A," which stands for think, feel, and then act, a step-by-step strategy for students to practice when feeling unsafe, regardless of the situation.

She didn't speak directly of sexual abuse, but explained safety in simpler terms that would apply to any child's life. She used scenarios like playing with scissors dangerously and standing on furniture as examples for the students.

"One of the things that I really love about our curriculum is that we start when they're very young, and it's really a philosophy about teaching kids how to advocate for themselves and how to make safer and smarter choices," the senator said.

Produced in an animated music video, the strategy was chanted to a catchy tune, with a visual of three scenarios: A stranger hugging a young girl, a young boy being pinched on the cheeks by an older relative and a young boy being ridiculed and recorded at a baseball game without consent.

In each scenario the students used the method to speak up and use what Book calls their "'I mean business' voice."

Book said the curriculum and the charity's efforts have been yielded positive results in schools which are deemed safe spaces for most young children.

"We had several disclosures from another visit. Children were sharing things with their teachers that they hadn't shared before, and they were able to connect with a center and get some help, so we know that its working and helping," Book said.

Alaijah Brown covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at ABrown1@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Sen. Lauren Book in Tallahassee with lesson for kids on staying safe