TO ASK FOR HELP
FUNDACIÓN RANA
Situations of sexual abuse during childhood or adolescence can leave a mix of feelings and emotions that mark a victim’s life. For this reason, asking for help is a very brave action that can put an end to abusive experiences and activate a response from the immediate environment.
Asking for help may seem like an easy and natural action, but it is often a difficult step. In the vast majority of cases, the aggressor is part of the child’s trusted environment. This causes the victim to experience the situation in silence, due to the pressure that may be exerted. Everyone has skills to escape a dangerous situation involving a stranger: shouting, walking quickly, calling the police—actions we teach children from a very young age. However, it is also essential to provide tools to express discomfort or unease when it is a close person who causes it.
Knowing how to ask for help is, in fact, a complex process that involves:
- Recognizing what they are feeling and who or what is causing it.
- Accepting that they need support.
- Identifying who can help resolve the situation.
- Expressing what they feel.
Working on this sequence is important so that children learn to solve problems and understand that, at times, ending discomfort requires the intervention of someone else.
On Tropicalia Island, everyday situations are shown in which the protagonists ask for help and receive it from those around them: the Banyadorus Grandus help the Banyadorus Petitus cook the traditional sweet; Nil asks Lima for help to build a castle; Mango gets trapped and Fresi and Nil help him down from the tree; and the small tribe helps Nil and Mango find their way back home. These examples symbolize that everyone—young and old alike—needs support and help in all contexts and environments.
After reading, what questions can we ask ourselves?
- Do you think Nil and Mango could leave Tropicalia without anyone’s help?
- If you needed help in Tropicalia… who would you ask? The Banyadorus Petitus or the Banyadorus Grandus?
- What would you do if you were in Tropicalia and wanted to go back home?
- If you visited the island, in which moments do you think the Banyadorus Petitus could help you? And the Grandus?
- At home, who are the people who help you the most? And at school?
How can we encourage children to learn to ask for help?
We can link the need to ask for help with fear, misunderstanding, or difficulties, and we must be aware that each child has a different way of expressing it. Drawings or letters are a way to express everything that causes discomfort or unease.
Do you know about fear-removing stuffed toys?
In various shops you can find stuffed toys with a special pocket in their mouth, such as the well-known Frula or Much. At bedtime, the child can place inside a message, a drawing, or a short story about what makes them uncomfortable, and pass it on to a trusted adult.
https://kinderlandshop.es/producto/peluche-come-miedos-frula