Sleepovers and Body Safety: Body Boss Bootcamp Review

Photo by Kampus Production at Pexels

One of my first sleepovers involved a sense of adventure, several sleeping bags crammed in the living room, and my first viewing of the movie Grease. 

While my experience was positive, many other parents had less than stellar – maybe even harmful – experiences at slumber parties as a child or teen. So they ask:

Should I let my child go to a sleepover?

When will they be ready for a sleepover?

These are highly personal questions, with no right or wrong answer. And in fact, I’m not here to tell you should allow sleepovers or not. 

Instead, I’m sharing the tool that helped us feel better prepared to send our daughter out into the world with body safety skills.

PARENTS’ CONCERNS ABOUT SLEEPOVERS

Some experts extol the benefits of sleepovers – like independence and practicing for overnight camps. Others cite concerns about weapons, bullying, sexual abuse, and drug and alcohol abuse. Pretty serious stuff. Suddenly, concerns like “what if my child wakes up at 1am and wants to come home?” seem less significant. 

As a kid, I was fortunate. Sleepovers were fairly harmless for me. But I learned in online communities (especially Tiktok and Reddit) that many adults had terrible experiences at sleepovers as a child. Not surprisingly, they now adopt a strict position on where they allow their children to sleep; some refusing sleepovers altogether.

One major concern for parents is trust with the host family. You may trust the parents, but you don’t always know who else will be coming into the home, such as neighbors, extended family, older siblings, and friends of older siblings.

BODY SAFETY FOR KIDS IN ALL AREAS OF LIFE

Even if you decline all sleepovers, there are several situations where your child will be without you, unless you’re a stay-at-home, homeschooling family that mostly…stays home. Day care, babysitters (both family and non-family), play dates, school, camps, and sometimes extracurricular activities. Perhaps even sleepaway camp one day.

Today, most parents know that “stranger danger” isn’t the biggest threat. After all, 93% of child sexual abuse perpetrators are known to the child. And many perpetrators are a peer of the child. But, sadly, it’s estimated that about 86% of cases are unreported, with many survivors not sharing until adulthood.

No matter what you decide about sleepovers (not my goal to convince you one way or the other!) – –  body safety lessons are important for every child as one tool for prevention. 

BODY BOSS BOOTCAMP: A SEXUAL ABUSE PREVENTION VIDEO SERIES FOR CHILDREN

One way that we felt more prepared for our daughter to feel safer without her parents around is The Body Boss Bootcamp. 

The Body Boss Bootcamp is designed for parents and children to watch together. In a series of 8 bite-sized videos, Miss King and her pal Zack (a doll) speak directly to kids about body safety.

The videos are designed for children and caregivers to watch together. At only 8 minutes each, they keep even a younger child’s attention, without being flashy or dramatic. 

I love this program so much that I became an affiliate. That means that if you decide to purchase after reading my review, Think or Blue will earn a commission. (Thanks for supporting my small business!) But I only share with you resources that I truly support – and this is one that I truly stand behind.

BODY SAFETY LESSONS FOR KIDS

The Body Boss Bootcamp teaches topics like:

• What are body boundaries?
• Do private parts have special rules, and what are they?
• How to check in with your body to figure out if a situation is safe or not
• Body rules for children to remember
• The difference between treats and bribes
• Some of the “tricks” people may use to abuse children and what parents and children can do ahead of time.

While we have several books about consent that we love, it was powerful to add a more thorough video series to our toolbox. This way, children get the benefit of pausing to consider each sub-topic more in-depth.

Lucky for us, my child LOVES to act. So when Miss King assigned “homework” to role play a scenario involving body safety, my daughter was thrilled to try it out. This is where the gold is! When children practice how to say no, listen to their bodies, or find a trusted adult, they gain confidence for the future.

ABOUT KIMBERLY KING

I’ve now mentioned “Miss King” a few times. So, who is Miss King? Kimberly King is a sexual abuse prevention expert, author, and parent. 

Kimberly is a survivor of sexual assault turned advocate and educator. As a freshman in college, Kimberly started her work with sexual abuse prevention as a women’s health Peer Counselor and Human Sexuality teaching assistant to the renowned Dr. Sandra Caron. But after more than a decade of teaching kindergarten and proactive momming, her son had a body safety scare with a friend that triggered a shift. She realized she wanted take the scare out of sexual abuse prevention.

In addition to the Body Boss Bootcamp, Kimberly authored a children’s book, “I Said No! A kid-to-kid guide to keeping private parts private.” 

And a new book for parents and educators,  “Body Safety for Young Children: Empowering Caring Adults.” This book supports parents and teachers to learn how to communicate and protect children together.

FEARFUL < EMPOWERED

The Body Boss Bootcamp and Kimberly’s books are truly for raising any child. Personally, as a woman (socialized as a girl) who is raising a girl, I’m deeply familiar with the pressures to be polite and not hurt other people’s feelings. (One big reason why I’m committed to breaking gender stereotypes for the next generation.) 

But parents and caregivers dedicated to raising children outside of traditional gender norms may face an uphill battle in a binary world that is slow to move past stereotypes. Given our society’s continued insistence that politeness should supersede a child’s bodily autonomy, this work is more important than ever. 

It’s easy to feel fearful after reading the statistics I shared above. But fear can make us powerless. And my goal is not to scare you. Instead, let’s equip our children with the language and skills they need to feel like they have the power to keep their bodies safe. With your help, of course. 

I’m so glad I enrolled our family in the Body Boss Bootcamp and that my daughter has a set of vocabulary and “role play” practices that will help her in difficult situations. 

Read more here about the Body Boss Bootcamp.