NCJ Number
145377
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: (1993) Pages: 75-84
Date Published
1993
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Games offer a unique opportunity for professionals to present vital information to children in a nonthreatening way, and can be used in sexual abuse prevention programs.
Abstract
Powerful tools in teaching children about safety, individual rights, and proper behavior, games should be used strategically, must include surprise, and should create the cognitive conflict that provides the children with a motivation to learn. Games introduce new information which disrupt a child's cognitive equilibrium; that equilibrium is reestablished once the existing schema is expanded to assimilate the new information. The familiar games of Simon Says, Red Light Green Light, and Telephone provide an excellent frame of reference for presenting new concepts. Because the games are already part of children's schema, information transmitted through them is more likely to be understood and retained. The game curriculum allows teachers to present information about sexual abuse prevention in terms that the children understand and it can be repeated and played out over and over again. 10 references