Erin's Law

Each school year, District 15 implements a child sexual abuse and grooming behavior prevention program that helps prepare students and staff to identify and respond to warning signs of suspected child sexual abuse, how to identify grooming behaviors that may be related to possible sexual abuse, and how to report child sexual abuse. The prevention program is developmentally appropriate, is implemented by teachers and school mental health professionals in each classroom, and is consistent with the Erin’s law requirement in Illinois. Information about this prevention program can be found below. Each year, parents/guardians are notified of the prevention program’s implementation. Parents/guardians may contact their school principal should they wish to remove their student from participating in this program.

Erin’s Law - Resources for Parents - Personal Safety Education

Illinois public schools are required by law to provide all students, from Grades Pre-K through 12, with age-appropriate personal safety awareness and prevention education. In order to comply with the requirement to provide developmentally sensitive and appropriate training for students, lessons have been carefully developed by Mental Health professionals in District 15. Classroom teachers have received annual professional development on this topic since the 2013-14 school year.

What is Erin’s Law?

The Comprehensive Health Education Act, often referred to as Erin’s Law, was signed into law in January 2013. The law expanded existing requirements that schools provide instruction in age-appropriate sexual abuse and assault prevention to include grades pre-kindergarten through 5.

Erin’s Law is named for Erin Merryn, an abuse survivor, who is now a national advocate for sexual abuse. The website for Erin’s Law can be found at: http://erinslaw.org/

Erin’s Law Presentations in District 15

The Erin’s Law presentations in District 15 (see below) were carefully designed by Mental Health Professionals in District 15 to be sensitive and developmentally appropriate for students’ age and grade level. The presentations to students are designed to be presented by classroom teachers as a part of the school’s Social Emotional Learning lessons, health class, or human growth and development instruction. 

Parents are encouraged to review the Erin's Law grade-level presentations and information on this website so that you can become familiar with the information. Please feel free to contact your mental health clinician if you have any questions about the lessons or the information to be presented. 

Student Learning Outcomes

Grade Level:	Lesson Topics/Content:
Pre-K	Safe/unsafe touches, safekeepers (what becomes strangers/safe adults), saying no, touching rule/boss of my body.
Grade K	5 senses, secrets.
Grade 1	Strangers/safe adults.
Grade 2	No go tell, home vs. school expectations/rules.
Grade 3	Fair & unfair treatment, defining touch.
Grade 4	Persisting (you may have to tell more than one adult), what does “private mean”, mixed up feelings.
Grade 5	Boundaries, empowerment, responsible decisions, consent, who is an abuser (tricks, characteristics), who can be abused, respecting differences,  cyber/online harassment/appropriate use.
Grade 6	Law, Balanced relationships (one sided, respect, 4 types of abuse), differences between abuse and harassment, grooming behaviors, bystander skills/how to help a friend, have a plan.
Grade 7	Cyberbullying, peer to peer assault, Erin’s story.
Grade 8	Dating violence/rights, peer to peer assault, Erin’s story.  Awareness/how to talk about it, seeking help (self-advocacy, long term help).

*Topics are meant to be differentiated/scaffolded based on grade/developmental level. Some topics can be explained in greater depth where/when appropriate. Topics are intended to be built upon each year, incorporating the new topics per grade level building upon previous grade level content.

Click here to view Erin's Law grade-level presentations in Spanish, and adapted presentations for low incidence.

Raising Awareness

In partnership with parents and families, the District is committed to raising awareness and providing resources to further community prevention efforts. Parents are encouraged to review the warning signs of possible child abuse:

• Unexplained injuries and changes in behavior,
• Returning to earlier behavior (regressing to behaviors more appropriate for younger children),
• Fear of going to certain previously welcome locations (neighbors, relatives, friends, etc.),
• Changes in eating habits and/or sleeping patterns,
• Changes in school performance and/or attendance,
• Risk-taking behavior,
• Inappropriate sexual behavior,
• Mood swings, and/or
• Lack of personal care or hygiene. 

Other local and national resources committed to child safety, abuse prevention, and intervention include:

• Northwest CASA (Center Against Sexual Assault) – 24-Hour Hotline 888-802-8890
• The Bridge Youth and Family Services – Crisis Line 847-359-7490, www.bridgeyouth.org 
• National Child Sexual Abuse Help Line – 866-FOR-LIGHT (866-367-5444)
• Prevent Child Abuse America – www.preventchildabuse.org
• RAINN – 800-656-4673 (HOPE), www.rainn.org 
• Northwest Center Againist Sexual Assault – www.nwcasa.org 

What Can Adults Do?

What should adults do to provide support to a child if they report having been approached or touched in an inappropriate way?

The best things an adult can do is to:

• don't wait to take action,
• remain calm and listen,
• thank the child for trusting and telling you,
• assure the child that he or she did the right thing by telling an adult,
• believe the child and follow up,
• involve the school social worker or school psychologist as soon as possible to get support for the child, for the family and for yourself, and
• involve local community agencies.

Parent Resources

The handout, How to Help Your Child with Personal Safety, provides information for families about how to be proactive in helping your children to learn personal safety.