ABOUT THE PROGRAM

 The “Stop, Go and Tell” Asset Building Program

Stop, Go and Tell is a fun, age appropriate and interactive way to teach children about personal space boundary rules and what to do if someone tries to break those rules. This 30-45 minute presentation was created by Bethesda’s licensed staff in 2004. Since then, Stop, Go and Tell has been presented to over 30,000 students. More and more principals, teachers and parents are demanding Stop, Go and Tell become an annual educational component for their students. We welcome the opportunity to come to your school, childcare center, church, or other community group to present Stop, Go and Tell to K-5th graders. Note: the words “sexual abuse” are NOT used in the children’s presentation.

Our children’s presentation, “Stop, Go and Tell,” uses age-appropriate games, handout materials and repetition to help demonstrate the concept of personal space and healthy relationships. 

The "Stop, Go and Tell" curriculum teaches children:

1) Who does your body belong to? Answer: “My Body Belongs to Me”

2) Private parts are covered by a bathing suit, and just like we do things to keep other body parts safe (like wearing a bike helmet to protect our head when riding a bike), we should know how to keep private parts safe too. (In the presentation we only use the words “private parts”; no other words or specific language is used)

3) The five personal space boundary rules:

  1. Say “NO” if someone tries to touch your private parts

  2. Say “NO” if someone tries to look at your private parts

  3. Say “NO” if someone tries to show you their private parts

  4. Say “NO” to touching someone else’s private parts

  5. Say “NO” to looking at pictures of private parts in magazines, on TV, movies, cellphones or computers

4) To identify safe adults in their lives who they can go to if someone tries to break a personal space boundary rule

5) When someone tries to break a personal space boundary rule, they should STOP, GO to a safe adult and TELL them what happened

6) They can decide who comes in and out of their personal space

7) It is not the child’s fault if someone breaks a personal space boundary rule

“truly is priceless”

“I think the information provided by Bethesda’s Program is crucial to every student in elementary school. The presentation is very organized, well developed and age-appropriate. The repetition provided in each class truly reinforces every concept to be learned and etched in every child’s memory. That truly is priceless!”. 

— Counselor

“informational”

“I thought this program was informational and helped teach students things that are sometimes hard for teachers to know how to teach.”

— Teacher

“clearly stated in a positive way”

“The presentation was done very well. The message was clearly stated in a positive way. I feel like my students will be more prepared if faced with this problem.”

— Teacher

“Glad we did it!”

“I was reluctant to allow my son to attend the presentation, but after I sat through to see what it was all about, I had No hesitation” “Glad we did it!”

— Parent

 

As the groups of children increase in age, the materials and techniques graduate to age-appropriate tools. The older children also develop their own skills of self-protection and expressions of self-worth. Fourth and fifth graders are given “What if” scenarios and work together in small groups to find solutions.