I Had the Body Safety Talk With My Daughter.
- May 3
- 1 min read
Updated: May 24
Just want the key points? Grab the free PDF here.
I Don't Remember How It Went. But I remember how it felt.
I remember reaching for words in English instead of Cantonese. I remember thinking is this too much? Is this not enough? Am I scaring her?
I realized I'd never been given the words in Cantonese to say the right thing. My parents didn't give them to me. Body safety words was default to "down there."
Why the words actually matter.
Child safety experts and advocacy organizations agree on this: when children have the correct words for their body parts, they are better equipped to communicate clearly if something happens. (Read more: Children’s Advocacy Centers of Pennsylvania)
According to Darkness to Light, children who know the proper names for genitals are 3 times more likely to disclose abuse than those who don’t. (Read more: Darkness to Light)
When a parent uses real words, it tells a child: this is not a shameful topic in our home. You can come to me with anything.
This FREE Cantonese Body Parts Vocabulary PDF will give you the words to do it differently.
Want to go deeper? These words are the starting point. But the real work happens in the everyday moments. That's exactly what our books are built for. Cantonese-English-Jyutping, warm, and designed for families like yours, where Cantonese is our roots, but the emotional words don't always come easily.
Comments