65 CHILD ABUSE AWARENESS If you’re reading this, it’s possible that your living space or home is not a safe place for you right now. If you’re unable or not ready to leave the situation, you can still come up with a plan to create / access safer spaces, even if only for the short term. Any kind of abuse happening in your home is not your fault and you deserve a safe place to live and grow. You’re not alone. If you need someone to talk to, you can contact Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 or Text the word “CONNECT” to 686868 or kidshelpphone.ca. Also please refer to pages 75 at the back of this guide for more resources. Not sure if what you’re experiencing is abuse at home? You can learn more about family abuse / abuse in relationships from Kids Help Phone. If you recognize signs of abuse at home, one way you can put your safety first and get support is to create a safety plan. Having a plan may help you be more familiar with what to do in situations where it’s harder to think in the moment, especially when you’re feeling unsafe. At Kids Help Phone shares prompts you can follow to create a safety plan for when you’re experiencing abuse at home. You can use a safety plan to better know and remember your options to support yourself and put your safety first in the moment. Consider keeping your plan in any private spot that you’ll remember. Some ideas include in a journal or notepad, on a computer / phone / tablet, in a drawer, as a voice recording, in your school bag, under your mattress, etc. Please visit kidshelpphone.ca to download and fill out your own safety plan. You can begin by filling it out on your device and then save / print / take a photo of it. Or you can start by downloading it and then printing a copy to fill out offline. You can also come back to this tool any time if you’re unable to save / print a copy now. Before creating a safety plan, it can be helpful to consider what “safety” means to you. Safety may look and feel different for everyone. You can start by asking yourself, “What does safety mean to me? Is it a feeling in my body? A place / person / state of mind / gesture?” As you work through the prompts below, it might help you to keep in mind what safety may feel like for you (or how you hope it may feel) and how you can take big or small actions toward achieving that feeling. Designed by Freepik Safety Plan continued
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