SMART Rules for Adults to Share with Children

When you are dealing with children there are no hard and fast rules. A child’s ability to understand safety rules, and to put them into practice, depends on a number of things.

These include, but are not limited to: how old the child is, how the child has been educated and how confident the child is.

To help a child learn any set of rules, it is important to go through them and explain why you want the child to remember them. There is no ‘one-size-fits’ all, but here are a few suggestions. 

	Secrets These can be good fun, but if they make us sad or confused it’s best to check them out with Mum, Dad or someone else you trust.
	Mates Take someone with you when you are going somewhere and stay together.
	Always Always tell your parents, carer or someone else you trust where you are going, who you are with and when you will be back.
	Respect Respect your body and remember it is private. No one has the right to touch you on your private areas (those covered by your swimsuit).
	Tell Tell your parents, carer or someone else you trust if someone or something makes you feel uncomfortable or frightened.

These SMART rules can be downloaded from our Parents Protect website where you can get further information and support.

For more advice on how to talk to children about child sexual abuse, see our pages here for 0-12 year olds and talking to teenagers.