MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT, San Diego -- Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego hosted the first in a series of children’s classes entitled “My Body Belongs to Me” July 14 in the Marine Corps Family Team Building, 6E.
Approximately 24 children of service members attended the class to learn about respect and personal space. Each class in the three-part series is designed to build on the lessons of the last.
“This class is designed to teach our military children about the importance of personal space to help them have the safest, healthiest childhoods possible,” said Valerie Loewe, a counselor with the MCRD Family Advocacy Program.
The class was taught by Kat Wager, prevention educator for the Center for Community Solutions. The Center for Community Solutions emphasizes on the prevention and intervention of sexual abuse and assault and relationship violence. They have been a community resource for MCRD’s Quality of Life programs for the past 15 years.
Wager began the class by asking each child to think of an imaginary bubble around them to represent their personal space. She then walked up to each child asking them to stop her when she got too close.
The children are also taught to respect other people’s boundaries with sayings like, “If it’s not my bubble, I keep my hands to myself,” and “my body belongs to only me and that is final.”
“They are simple messages that are age-appropriate,” said Jeanne Mossuto, director of the MCRD Family Advocacy Program. “She makes them feel comfortable by using songs to teach them about personal space.”
By putting the messages into the song the children are able to understand and learn the message. The classes are broken down into two age groups five to seven and eight to nine to ensure age-appropriate lesso ns where children learn that they have rights when it comes to their personal space. The children were also taught why it is important to respect the personal space of others.
“It’s important for children to learn about personal space and what type of contact is appropriate and what is not,” said Loewe. “This class helps the children develop more of an awareness around this and helps empower them to get help from another adult if they feel uncomfortable or concerned”
The classes are designed to be interactive and give each child a chance to answer questions and participate in the activities. Every child was given a coloring book to help them to understand the lessons of each class.
Although this is the first time Wager has taught the class on MCRD, she is credentialed to teach this class and has taught the class numerous times in local San Diego Schools.
For more information about this series of classes and others offered through Behavioral Health Services, please call (619) 524-0465.