Welcome to beyond the headlines. Im cheryl jennings. Joining us right now is somebody who has dyslexia, the Lieutenant Governor of california, gavin newsom. Thanks for having me. Its fun. Thank you for being so open about this. Yeah, no, its interesting. The response has been interesting. Ive always been pretty honest about the fact i have dyslexia, but no one really paid much attention to it until i became mayor. And actually, one of the first things i did as mayor, the first public events, was visiting kids with dyslexia in the school, and everyone was shocked to know that i had this learning disability, which if i look back, was probably the best thing thats ever happened to me. Except a lot of kids would hear that and go, for me, its the worst thing. It was, and it was terrible growing up. Well, take me back. I think, for me, i think it was two things. One, it was very difficult for me, in terms of my own academic experience. School was a terrible and terrorizing experience. Ill just be candid with you. Spelling, reading, writing, i had speech therapy, i went through and i just, interestingly, in preparation to come here, i had not realized, i went to five schools in seven years. So i bounced around because, frankly, the schools, back then, didnt really focus on it, and they didnt want to focus on it even after they discovered that they should be focusing on it. So, my mother, to her credit, kept bringing me to new environments. But i wanted to make the point, it wasnt just about me. It was about my mother. She was a single mom with another daughter my sister and she didnt have dyslexia, but the impact it had on her is remarkably pronounced. And i think thats just another part of the story. We talk about the impact of the kids and our own struggles, but the impact in the household is very, very challenging. Well, its tough because shes fighting for you, she wants you to succeed. Youre coming home with bad grades and low selfesteem, and im sure that, just like every other kid, you didnt want anybody to call on you to read out loud. No. Are you kidding . You sit in the back of the class i mean, back of the class with eyes down, back of the class, acting like youre doing Something Else so no one would ever look up at you. Nothing more terrorizing, seriously, than going down the rows of desks, everyones asked to read a chapter in a book, and youre just staring at the clock, going, please, please, please get this period to end so i dont have to stanup in front of everyone. And ill never forget god as my witness mr. Morris class, ill never forget that moment where the clock didnt strike at the 50 minute to the hour so i can get to the next period, and i had to stand up, and people start laughing, and its one of those experiences i know its almost cliche, right . But its so indelible in my life because it was sort of an exp i was exposed to the rest of the classroom. What did they say . Just laughed at me. I literally couldnt read. Im shaking, and im trying to read, and i cant, and, you know, theyre laughing, and i put the stuff down, and if i could run out of class, i would, but i remember i didnt. And it was just one of those horrible experiences. And, you know, you feel dumb, you feel isolated, people call you dumb. Interesting for me, cheryl, i found out about it my mother hid it from me for years. I was diagnosed as dyslexic, but she didnt want to stigmatize me, and i appreciate that in hindsight. I lost her 15 years ago, so i dont have the benefit of talking to her about it today. But she didnt want to. And i remember coming home, and i found out i had dyslexia. I just thought i was, frankly, not that smart and was struggling and thought, you know, something was wrong with me. Before we run out of time, ive got to ask you, how does this affect you now . Do you read speeches . Yeah, i rarely read speeches, and if i do, theyre the worst things i ever do, cause theyre terrible. A teleprompter is easier than looking down at a piece of paper and looking up, cause ill lose my place. When i read, i underline. If i read the newspaper, i underline. When i read books dont ever lend me a book, because i will underline it. And what i do and this is the gift, i think, of dyslexia. At the end of the day i know the word gift is a controversial one because its really ways of overcompensating become gifts. They become attributes. They become advantages. But what im able to do is, after i read something, i have to read again. And in reading it again, then it becomes indelible in my mind. Im able to take it away from the written word, and im able to connect it in a way where my memory is strengthened. Theres so many wonderful things that come from it being creative, learning how to fail, because that becomes an expertise of those that are struggling with learning disabilities. And understanding the importance of failure, in terms of ultimate outcome and success in life. And now, finally, in california, because of extraordinary leadership, decoding dyslexia, and other leaders, we have a bill that allows us to have a protocol in california, finally, to have our teachers and others take a look and begin to assess students in california that may suffer from the same struggles. Final question youre a dad four kids in your life. Yeah. You worried about this . Im not worried about it, but im focused on it. If our kids are just turned 6 and 4, 2, and a brandnew baby if theyre dyslexic, fabulous. And that just allows us to have the opportunity to see them grow a little differently. And im for different. Im for people being a little bit, you know im for authenticity. Im for personality. You are a message of hope, gavin. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. All right, and when we come back, youre going to meet an 11yearold girl with dyslexia whose Youtube Video went viral. She and her mother will join us inust a couple of minutes. Stay with us. Well be right back. Welcome back to beyond the headlines. Joining me right now, 11yearold sophia granucci and her mother, lisa granucci. And thank you for coming all the way an hour and a half drive each way. So thank you for giving us that gift of your time. And, sophia, i saw your video that went viral about something you wanted your teacher to know. So tell me about first of all, tell me about the video. Well, that video would so my teacher would know that i have dyslexia. And so i wouldnt be going into her classroom and she wouldnt be able to know, and so she can help me, and i can have extra time on tests and be able to listen to my books and do have a special class during time the school hours. Schools hours, yes. Now, when did you know that you had a problem with reading . Were you little little . 2nd to 3rd grade. I got diagnosed in 3rd grade. And at 2nd grade, i knew that there was something wrong, so i everyone was getting as and bs, and i was getting ds and fs. Oof. So, um was that frustrating for you . Yes, very frustrating. How did you feel about yourself at that time . Well, i felt i felt really, like, disappointed sometimes because i knew that i could do it. I felt like i just had to try a lot harder. Mmhmm. And, mom, youre watching her struggle. Yeah. Wow. So, as youre listening to her, take me back to those early days. You know, i had some concern, and every year, i would talk to the teachers, and i said, what can we do . What can we do . Just keep reading to her, just have her keep working harder, and i just thought they were the professionals and they were telling us what we needed to do, so i was telling her, you just got to work harder. You just got to try harder. And looking back now, and i think about how frustrating the tears at the homework table i feel awful about it. If i just wouldve known earlier. But who would know . I mean, its not something we talk about. Right. And so then, whatappened to lead you to get a diagnosis . Well, just after not getting the answers and i knew there was something going on, and i spoke to a friend whose daughter had dyslexia, and so she led me to a private psychologist who evaluated her. And she was evaluated with the school prior, but they said that she was okay and she wasnt far enough behind. She needed to be three years behind in reading. Oh, no three years behind . Yeah, and she was only two years behind, so they said, shell be okay. Ontinue. And then i went to a private psychologist, and then they, hands down, diagnosed her with dyslexia. Wow. So when you heard that word, sophia, what did you think . Did it make you feel better . Well, i didnt know what that was, so i thought that id have to go into a special classroom, i had to have new friends and i wouldnt i would get, like, special, like, time after school and i would have to do more homework, and itd be harder. So i was kind of nervous. But then when i figured out when my mom told me what it was, i felt better, and i knew, okay, this is gonna be ill still be in the same classroom. Im st gonna have a little extra help, and i wont have to, like, go to a whole different classroom. Are you doing better now . Yes. How well . Well, now im getting as and bs instead of ds and fs. So i think that was just because i needed someone to read it to me, so and help get let me have extra time. And now im getting as and bs. Oh, congratulations thank you. So, we have about 30 seconds left. The Youtube Video youve heard from people all over the world. This is not just a california or United States problem. So, who have you heard from . Weve heard from all over a lot of people from australia, china, all over the country, canada. Its pretty impressive. Every day, i turn on my email, and we have a new comment about how inspiring it has been for them and how theyre gonna try harder and thanking sophia for making the video for them. Sophia, what do you want to tell kids out there in 10 seconds . I want to tell kids that dyslexia i have it, too. So its not like its just you. Okay, youre not alone. Right . Yeah. Thank you so much for sharing your message. All right. And we have a lot more to talk about. Coming up, youre going to meet the mother of a dyslexic child who decided that she had to take her fight to the state legislature to get services for children like her son. Also, youre going to meet a doctor considered to be the guru of dyslexia, working on sciencebased programs for decades. Stay with us. Well be right back. Welcome back. Were talking about a brainprocessing disorder called dyslexia, which frequently and sadly goes undiagnosed. Our guests today are dr. Sally shaywitz. She is author of the book overcoming dyslexia. And tobie meyer, who led the fight in sacramento to get a law passed to acknowledge dyslexia in the education code. So, thank you both for being here. This is your book. Youve got another one coming out. This is overcoming dyslexia, and the whole point of this show is to help people and talk about it. So, dr. Shaywitz, let me start with you. You and your husband have been working on this issue for decades. Why is this your passion . Well, dyslexia is our passion because we know it affects so many people 1 in 5, as you had mentioned. But as i testified to congress a year ago we always need more information, but in the case of dyslexia, we have enough knowledge to do better. So what we have is an action gap, not a knowledge gap. And we need to use the 21stcentury knowledge we have, and we have to make sure education is aligned with 21stcentury science. And, basically, dyslexia is very prevalent. We study the brain. We know where it is in the brain. We know so much about it, and yet kids were gonna hear go struggling. Teachers dont use the word. That should change now in california. And you had pointed to tobie, and youre absolutely right. cause you had this struggle with your son, so tell me about that. Yes, i did. When he was in the 1st grade, he became a different child. I couldnt get him out of the car in the morning to go to class. And, finally, one day, he told me he was not smart, and he would lay his head down on the table in class. We asked the school to assess him for a learning disability, and they found him ineligible. We hired a neuropsychologist and then eventually an attorney to secure services for my son. But this whole process cost us thousands of dollars in loans and a full school year at my childs expense. Oh, my goodness. Now, youve studied this, and fortunately, they were able to take out loans, but there are so many people you work with who are not that dont have any resources. And thats so true. And if you look at, for example, the nations report card, you find that theres 20 to 30 of children who are not at basic. And if you look at africanamerican, latino, native americans, thats even far larger. So we have an epidemic here. Oh, my gosh. Of dyslexia. And yet attentions not being paid. There are some schools, but theyre often very expensive independent schools. If we could have, for example, public Charter Schools for dyslexia, that would make a huge, huge difference, because these children and weve studied enough of the dyslexic theyre smart. They want to learn. They went to school with their mothers and fathers youre gonna learn to read. And were failing them. Well, that is its so sad, but you talked about action. You testified before congress. You worked with the california legislature, you and a team of moms and dads and kids. Tell me about that. Yes, that is correct. Jim frazier, the assemblyman. Yes, jim frazier decided that he would go ahead and author a bill that decoding dyslexia california would sponsor, and that bill was Assembly Bill 1369. And it had over 6,500 parents and children dyslexic children and organizations from all over california that lobbied for the support of the bill. And it passed unanimously through all the houses and eventually signed into law. Two parts, right . 2016, 2017. Thats correct. Two different laws. Theres phonological processing, which took effect on january 1, 2016. And the second law is that the state is required to develop program guidelines, and that will become effective by the Academic School year 20172018. And, dr. Shaywitz, we have about 10 seconds left. What is your advice to parents of dyslexic kids . Dont wait. We have a paper published just this fall that showed the achievement gap is present already in 1st grade, and it doesnt go away. So, parents, dont be afraid. And another thing parents are afraid of if ur child has it, he or she has it, getting the diagnosis is a benefit. Its not gonna make the child dyslexic. Itll be a benefit. But itll bring benefits. And the child will know that he or she is not stupid. Oh, thats the best. Thank you both so much for all of your for teaching me about this so we could share it with other people. All right, we do have to take a break. Were going to put all of this resource information and i told you about overcoming dyslexia. Also, i got to show you the coolest hat ever. Got dyslexia . Youre in good company. So remember that. When we come back, youre going to meet a family who fought for years to get the help they needed for their teenage son who had a 3. 5 gradepoint average but couldnt read higher than 3rdgrade level. Were also gonna take you on a tour of the new dyslexic Research Center in San Francisco at ucsf mission bay and hear from the neuroscientist involved in a Pilot Project on reading disorders. Welcome back to beyond the headlines. Were continuing our discussion on dyslexia. Now, youve heard that a new law is going into effect in the edation code to acknowledge the reading disorder dyslexia in order to get services to the children who need them. Now, it comes too late for the courageous students who fought to graduate. I want you to meet one of those students who is a success thanks to his dedicated mother and his own hard work. When i was, like, in school reading, i knew it was difficult. 18yearold durrell struggled to learn to read, but hes worked hard and is excited about graduating from high school. Hes an artist, creating his own comic book. He wants to be an engineer and maybe own a Videogame Company after college. But its been a difficult journey to get this far. Durrell learns differently than some children. His mom noticed it when durrell was in 2nd grade. He was put in specialeducation classes, and she kept fighting to find out why he had trouble learning. The school would say, go to the doctor. The doctor would say, the school. Her battle continued as durrell kept being moved forward through school and into high school, never learning how to read above a 3rdgrade level in spite of his intelligence and very hard work. So, the whole 9thgrade year, 10thgrade year, this boy is getting 3. 85, 3. 5. But he cant read. Finally, a doctor diagnosed durrell with dyslexia, a brainprocessing disorder. Donna learned from that doctor about an agency called dredf that helps families like hers. Dredf stands for the disability rights education defense fund. Eventually, dredf referred the case out for legal action. The case was resolved outside of court, and while the end result is confidential, donna says durrell is finally getting the help he has always needed. Most parents that come to me come to me after years and years of begging for help, just like donna campbell. She had been fighting for her son. He was in incredibly hard courses with very, very driven academic achievers. He is one of them. Hes very bright. He is incredible. But he couldnt read. Generally speaking, how any sort of legal action against a School District can help these students is by gaining services. So theres something called compensatory education to compensate for services that should have been provided that were not provided. Durrell goes to tutoring classes early in the morning and after school. He also turns in extra work to make up for low test scores. He volunteers at a charity. Hes working hard to be a success and a good role model for others like him. Never give up and always fight for what you believe in, because you could do anything when you set your mind to it. Keep fighting for your child. I mean, if you see something wrong, just try to find the help. Wow. That is an amazing family. Well, joining me in the studio right now is dr. Fumiko hoeft, who works at the Dyslexic Center at ucsf mission bay in San Francisco. And i want to thank you so much for being here. You were gracious enough to take us on a tour of the new center. It was very exciting. We saw your son tyga in there. Yes. Its kind of like the control kit, i guess. So, tell me about your sons. Tell me out tyga. Okay. So, i have two sons, one who is tyga, whos a 7yearold who reads like an adult, like i do or any other adult. The other one, who struggles to acquire the most basic skills, such as sounding out letters and learning to read. And what we want to do is learn how this is happening in each child with dyslexia. So, the brain mechanisms underlying dyslexia, how we can help each child, utilizing their strengths and not just addressing their weaknesses, because these are different for each child. And also, how we can identify each child early so we can prevent unnecessary failure from happening. Yeah, you heard some of the parents saying that you have to be three years behind before theyre gonna get any help. Thats just scandalous. That should not happen. Yeah. So that is what we want to address. And so ucsfs Dyslexic Center was established very recently with honorary chair gavin newsom as honorary chair and in partnership with Charles Armstrong school, which is a preeminent Dyslexia School in the bay area. Everybody there is dyslexic . Yes. So theyre in good company. They are the fortunate people who have absolutely amazing teachers and peers. And what were trying to do is, we combine cuttingedge technology and genetics and brain imaging, and we dont study just reading, but we study a lot of other things, from musical processing, speech processing, language, attention, visualspatial skills, social emotional skills all the important pieces for a child to succeed in this school. And what were trying to do is identify each childs profile, which is different for each child, as we all know, and what i call a neural fingerprint. And now, what do you do with that information . How is that gonna be implemented into action . So, what we want to do is not just do research for the sake of research, but we want to bring it rapidly and directly into the classroom. So, we take each childs profile so we can identify their strengths as well as weaknesses so we can address and maximize and optimize their chances to succeed. And so one of the projects, for example, that were doing is developing an app utilizing these neuroscientific findings so that we can translate it and bring it to underresourced areas so that we dont have to have a ucsf Dyslexia Center in your neighborhood but so everyone can participate and benefit. All right, were gonna look forward to those apps. Dr. Hoeft, thank you so much. And thank you for letting me go on that tour. Were gonna share that with our viewers. All right. Thank you very much for having me. All right. And that is it for todays show. We could do hours on this. For more information about todays program and the resources where you live, just go to our website abc7news. Com community. Were also on facebook at abc7communityaffairs. Follow me on twitter cherylabc7. Im cheryl jennings. Have a great week. Well see you next time. Welcome to beyond the headlines. Im cheryl jennings. Our goal today is to raise awareness about child abuse and how to prevent it. Child abuse, sadly, is a yearround problem, and the effects of child abuse can last a lifetime and can happen to anyone. The perpetrators may be people you know. One of the important things to consider is what will you do if you find out about the abuse . What should you do . Abc7 News ReporterTiffany Wilson talked recently with a woman who is suing an easy bay School District, accusing them of not doing anything about the abuse she says she suffered from a coach she trusted. Newspaper clippings capture Sherinne Wilson on the court, but her memories of high school are buried in these journals. I lived with shame. I thought it was my fault. Wilson says her basketball coach, leland sandler, started a sexual relationship with her when she was 16, often giving her drugs and writing notes like this to excuse her from class. He was a person in authority, and were still taught, you know, that you listen to people in authority and you respect them, and thats what i did. Eventually, wilson says her parents discovered the illicit relationship and confronted the principal at San Ramon Valley high school. The principal came up with told my parents that my four younger siblings would have to go to a Different School if this came out, and it would just be better for everybody if it didnt come out. So nobody ever contacted police. Wilson says her coach was allowed to stay on the condition he stop any physical relationship with her. What allegedly happened next still brings wilson to tears 30 years later. She says, the principal, james henderson, walked in on sandler having sex with her again. I just remember our eyes meeting, and i remember thinking, hes gonna tell. Hes gonna do something. Hes gonna call the police now. This is gonna be over. And i remember like a sense of relief, and he basically, he turned around [voice breaking] and he locked the door. And he never said a word. In february, wilson filed a 15million lawsuit against the School District and her former principal. Neither the School District, principal, nor former coach have returned multiple requests for comment. We believe the court will rule in sherinnes favor because what happened here cant possibly be supported. Wilson only came forward after reading about kristen cunnanes similar experience with a middleschool coach in moraga. That coach was convicted. Wilson hopes to empower other victims by sharing her story. It takes courage to talk about it, and, you know, if i could if i could help others do the same, theyre gonna become stronger, and theyre gonna take control of their lives back. She also wants her story to serve as a cautionary tale for todays teens, who she feels are especially at risk because of social media and smartphones. In santa rosa, Tiffany Wilson, abc7 news. It took her so many years to find her voice, so i want to thank sherinne for having the courage to talk with us about this, and joining me in the studio right now is a woman who wants to stop that kind of abuse forever. She is executive director of the San FranciscoChild Abuse Prevention CenterKatie Albright, and we have worked together for many years in this fight. Now, you have two locations one is the firehouse on waller street and, of course, the Childrens Advocacy Center out in the bayview. First, cheryl, thank you so much for having me here today and shining the light. We all have a role to play in preventing child abuse, and thank you for being such a champion in this effort. It is a team effort. You know, it takes all of us to do this, and one of the things that you were sharing wi me before we started the program is that the numbers just dont go down, sadly. No, in fact, in San Francisco, there are more than 5,000 reports of child abuse each year, and the Research Shows that actually theres about 40 of cases that are never even reported. Its tragic. You have a place now thats just beautiful. I got to tour it last year, and i want to show people an update of the Childrens Advocacy Center. Advocacy center in the bayview is just beautiful. Its a nice, safe place where kids who have been abused can share their stores one time. Its an incredible partnership that we have with the city and county of San Francisco, where, as you said, children can come in and share their story one time with all the excellent and expert pfessionals that need to hear that childs story so that we can really help that family find justice and help that child on a path to healing. Its incredible. In fact, since we started this work in 2008, we see a 76 increase in the number of these best practices interviews. Were thrilled to have just gotten National Accreditation earlier this month, and so really have just been very proud of our partnership that we can do to make sure that all kids in our city are safe. I was reading on your website about something that just stunned me. You believe that we can actually end the cycle of violence in families. You have a new program. You wrote an essay about this. Its we have been saying for years that we are going to prevent abuse, reduce it, but now i really believe, we really believe we can actually end it in our generation. We have a terrific program where we provide support for families in crisis. We focus on five protective factors, and these are things that people have researched and defined that families need in order to keep their kids safe. So parent resiliency whether or not a parent can weather the ups and downs of life at any time in any crisis. A childs resiliency, or social emotional competencies. Whether or not a parent understands ageappropriate behavior, and whether or not a family has social connections, or are they so deeply isolated maybe because of violence or mentalhealth issues that they cant seek help, and finally we look at concrete support, so basic family needs food, clothing, shelter. These things together help keep kids safe, and we have a fantastic program that were providing kids with the support and families with the support. We do it through our 24 7 phone support line, our talk line, as well as counseling services, playroom, other child care, other kinds of Group Activities for parents to really engage and get the support that they need to keep their kids safe and break generational cycles of violence. I was reading about how you think two generations it can be done. You did something with the Aspen Institute about this area. We just published an article with the Aspen Institute earlier this week, and we do believe that working with parents and children together, in two generations, that we can really focus on moving families out of generational cycles of violence, and we have the results to show it. About 76 of our families are showing improvement in their protective factors, which means improvement in their ability to keep their kids safe against all odds, against all the risks, against all their own generational cycles of violence that they may be coming through. So were very excited about this program. Katie, we have about 10 seconds left. Most important thought you have you want to leave people with . Parenting is tough, and if you need support and you need help, call our phone support line 24 7. Its 415441kids. And, as we said in the beginning, its gonna take all of us working together to prevent abuse, but we can. Katie, thank you so much. We appreciate it so much. And we had the talk line on the screen for everybody, and we will have that on our website, as well. Now, when we come, youre going to learn about an Educational Organization that offers free material to raise awareness about child abuse prevention. Stay with us. You dont want to miss it. Well be right back. Welcome back to our program on how to prevent child abuse. Were joined by two women who have been longtime partners in the fight against abuse. Patty shimek is a founder of a nonprofit Grassroots Organization called partners in prevention, and kathy baxter, who led the San FranciscoChild Abuse Prevention Council for decades, and she has been my mentor on childabuse issues for three decades. I cant believe its been that long. Wow. So now you have a whole new venture. This is just such a nice supplement to the work that Katie Albright is doing. Shes been my mentor, too. All right, so, patty, let me start with you. You founded this. Kathy, youre the Vice President. So what is partners in prevention and why did you do it . As you said, we are a 501 c 3 notforprofit organization comprised of people who believe that prevention is the way to end child abuse in this country and in our communities. And you also have a lot of products that were gonna talk about in a little while, right . Yes, yes. But, kathy, why did you and patty decide to join forces on this . Well, you know, cheryl, id worked in the field for so long, and i consider myself a civilian now, ive been saying. Im retired. I wanted to do something that i felt could reach out and be able to give things to people. For a long time, all of our programs have struggled with limited budgets, not being able to develop materials, getting a message out there to the community about child abuse, and to say that we believe that child abuse can be prevented. As someone whos now reading the paper, watching tv, i was expecting to see so much this month on child abuse, this april, and other months throughout the year, and you realize that unless theres a sensational case, its very hard to get the message out there, and we want the message to be 365 days a year. Youre right. It is a yearround problem. So who are you working with and who is your audience . Well, we are a Diverse Group of individuals from business, from civil society, from other organizations that work in this area experts and our audience is every adult. Because its a family affair. Its a family event. We all have to be involved. The responsibility is not for a child to be safe in their own childhood. The responsibility is in all adults not just the parent, but all adults. Youre absolutely right. Now, i received a packet of material, some of the things that you all distribute, and it was fantastic, and there was a hashtag in there for those folks who like to tweet, and i do, and its called how we do blue, and i love to show people that because its part of a calendar thats yearround. Yes. So were gonna put that up on the screen right now so that you want to get involved, you want to wear a blue ribbon for the love of a child, but your hashtag is how we do blue. How we do blue. How we do blue yes. How you do blue. I did this in honor of this particular and important story. So, you have been asked by many, many people all across the country and the world now for these materials. Its so exciting that to be a partner in prevention means simply to understand what the blue ribbon represents and to wear it or display it in your life as you go about your day, and through our website, through conferences, international conferences, people have contacted us from the bahamas, from other states fayetteville, north carolina, throughout the greater bay area, of course, and reached out and said, how do i do this . What does it take . It takes simply to be able to know what the blue ribbon represents and to be united in the belief that the best treatment for child abuse in adulthood is to have not have had it happen at all, to prevent it, so that is our mission preventing it from starting. We usually do the other way. We talk about the abuse and how horrible it is, but we dont talk about this piece of it. So, kathy, when the conversation starts, what do people say to you about getting these materials . Well, they want to know how to get them, and part of it is we have this wonderful network of the 10 bay area child Abuse Councils that weve been working with for years. Now i work as a volunteer with patty getting the materials out. Patty is a great visual person and a great person looking at messaging, and she works with some other excellent people. So theyve created wonderful materials, and its really a pleasure to be able to say, we can give you these materials. We can give you pins, bookmarks, posters, anything you need to spread the word, and people are just grabbing them and saying, what else can we do . What else can we do . And its know what child abuse is. Well, were gonna talk a lot more about this in just a moment. We have to take a break. Kathy and patty are going to stay with us for another segment. When we come back, what you can do to show your support in the fight against child abuse. We are back, talking about ways to prevent child abuse and how you can join that effort. Our guests are patty shimek, the founder of partners in prevention, and kathy baxter, the Vice President of partners in prevention, and both of them are longtime advocates for prevention, and we talked about what it means to be a partner in prevention. Its something we all need to get involved with, but you have so much great material here. So i want to start first with these dolls whom i got to see during a presentation at a school to help children learn about safe touches, good and bad touches. Mmhmm. So, what are these guys names here . Harry and sally. [ chuckles ] theyre so cute. Now, their clothing is just its covering strategic places. Mmhmm, right. Theyre bathing suits, right, on harry, and on sally, the twopiece bathing suit, which are very obvious, clear messages for children to identify these are your private areas. Mmhmm. All right, now you also have this goes in the schools to talk to kids about touches, and the message that you have for them is three easy rules. Right. Yes, yes. Its say no, get away, and tell someone, and keep telling until someone listens. The overarching message is one of empowerment i can. I can do these things. You can. Its safe and correct. And you also have a lot of material. This book is fascinating because it says, enough. Child sexual abuse. Ten conversations. So, kathy, tell me about this. Right. You know, a couple of years ago, the Bay Area Coalition of Child Abuse Council and several other groups merged and talked about child sex abuse, and this is the campaign they came up with. Simple campaign enough. Enough child sex abuse. And we want to make materials available to parents, to adults, and decided to print the ten conversations, which were available online. Many people can go online, but many of our parents and other people do not go online, so these booklets are available for people to read simple, 10 conversations. You can do one a day, one a week with your children and talk about preventing child sex abuse. You also have what i see here. Youve got the calendar that we talked about earlier. Youve got a big calendar, you have bookmarks. You have coloring books that are strategic in their message, too. Patty, tell me about the coloring books. Well, the coloring books are an activity that give children an opportunity to relax and share with their parent, caregiver, their friends, any adult what theyre experiencing in life and hopefully it empowers them. Theyre treated as superheroes for themselves. It gives them a voice, gives them power. You are your own individual, and although we do not expect children to be responsible for their own safety in childhood, it is an opportunity for parents to speak and adults to speak to the children. You work with a lot of different agencies. Were gonna be talking about the contra costa agency in a minute. So, do they ask for advice, support materials, what . All of it. I think mostly materials. I think that is the biggest area where we need more, and i see us, partners in prevention, as a supplement to everyone whos doing the work out there. So anyone can call and say, well, what do you have this year . What are you gonna make available . Pins, bookmarks, ten command Ten Commandments ten conversations. They should be. They should be the Ten Commandments for parents to really know what to do with their kids. The program that you have, its not just gonna be stagnant. I mean, you are constantly evolving. So youve got some future plans. Yes, we do. Well, mostly were listening right now to adult survivors, to people who work in the field, and to children. We want to find the best messaging possible. We want to develop the best messaging possible to end child abuse. We, too, believe that it can be ended. We can stop it. I think that one of the things that people dont know is that they dont have to pay anything for these materials. Right. Theres no office because its in your work office. Right. We have no overhead expenses that most organizations find necessary, so, at this time, these last two years, weve been able to meet the requests of providing these materials at no charge. Thats wonderful. Thank you both so much for what youre doing and thanks for being here today. Thank you. All right, and we do have to take a break. Now, coming up next, were gonna show you a program that has a very Aggressive Program to teach children how to protect themselves from child abuse, so please stay with us. Well be right back. Welcome back to beyond the headlines. We are talking about how to prevent child abuse and what you can do to join the fight. Right now our guest is Carol Carrillo with the Child Abuse Prevention Council of contra costa county, and, carol, thank you so much for being here today. You have a very comprehensive program, and i love this poster because it says if i can just hold this up here. It says, child help. Speak up. Be safe. Prevention education curriculum. And this is for 1 to 6th grade, and there are so many good little pieces of advice for children on here, so walk me through that. Absolutely. Our speak up be safe program is a comprehensive approach to child abuse prevention. We teach 1stthrough6thgrade students a curriculum on child abuse prevention, bullying prevention, and Sexual Harassment prevention. Wow. So its not just child abuse or child sexual abuse. Bullying is a huge problem, too. Yes, it is. Absolutely. So its very comprehensive. It really does touch on teaching kids about all those sort of issues and how to prevent those issues. I want to talk about something that ive been following the issue of child abuse, child abuse prevention my entire career because im very passionate about this. I was fortunate to have a good, safe childhood, and i believe every child should have that. Yes, we do, too. We love the props here. So you have dolls that you use in your curriculum. So do these Little Critters have names . They we use sally and the same names that other programs use. Yes, okay. And but really its really designed to show our younger kids, our 1stthrough3rdgrade children their private body parts, and whats covered by a bathing suit is considered their private body parts, and that no one really should be touching those private body parts or showing you their private body parts unless, of course, its a parent or a caretaker and theyre touching your private body parts to keep you clean and safe or, of course, a doctor or a medical provider thats touching your private body parts to keep you healthy. Other than that, there should never be games around or any sort of tricks around your private body parts because those are yours and not to be shown to other people. So how do you give the kids the language to say thats not okay, especially if theyre already in a situation . Well, what we do, particularly with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rdgraders is we play some really fun games. We talk about safe secrets and unsafe secrets, and we have kids stand up, and we give different scenarios, and we say, if this is a safe secret, give a thumbsup, if its not a safe secret, thumbsdown. So we have different scenarios and different ways to present the material to kids at an ageappropriate level so they can understand and really get a sense of whats safe and whats unsafe. I know you got some good advice from the partners in prevention, and you modeled your program after the one they use in the schools in San Francisco. Absolutely. Yes, we did. And we have bookmarks to sort of help reinforce the safety rules of telling someone, making sure that you keep telling your safe adult until that safe adult believes you and helps that abuse from happening. And i know that youre in a big county big county. Yes. I mean, San Franciscos big, and their numbers are large. Yeah. Well, last year we were looking at about 10,000 reports of suspected child abuse, and we look at about oneinfour cases daily that get investigated for so rises to the level of higher needs and being investigated. So its definitely a problem. Its a problem in every community in contra costa county, and we are really working to spread the word and spread our prevention programs throughout the county. You have a great staff, a great crew. We have some pictures of the folks who work with you, and we wanted to show them and thank them for the work theyre doing. Theyve got the dolls there, and, you know, the cohesiveness of a team like that like, everybody whos been on this program today, everybody works together. Thats so impressive. Yes, we really do. And it is a team approach. We all need to Work Together to prevent child abuse in our communities, and i think were doing a really great job this month, every month of the year to make sure that our kids are kept safe and that are community can really rally around and learn about this issue and learn how they can help protect kids in our community. And i just want to reinforce the message that kids can take with them, for folks who are watching this, if theyre in trouble, if they have to find that safe adult they keep telling, so the words on these bookmarks are . Yeah, stay away. I can i can keep myself safe and to tell a safe adult and to keep telling that adult until the abuse stops. And i think kids dont know that they can say no, that they have the power, the right to say no. Thats right, thats right. And were teaching them that they can, and they can help keep themselves safe. And how many kids do you have in your program now . Well, last year, over the last two years, we trained 3,500 students. We work with their parents and the school staff, so it really is a team effort in keeping kids safe. Oh, thank you so much for what youre doing, carol. Thank you so much for your support. All right. For more information about todays program, go to our website abc7news. Com community, or on facebook at abc7communityaffairs. Have a great day. Hi. Hey. Oh, is somebody eating with you . No, just me. Oh, of course. Thats not an obscene amount of food for one person. Well, its your fault. Its this baby you put inside me. I am hungry all the time. Yesterday i ate a whole package of hot dog buns. Well, now, given your lifestyle, im guessing that you passed on the wieners