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Table 1 Educational materials on signs of possible sexual abuse and its key recommendations

From: A sex education program for teachers of preschool children: a quasi-experimental study in Iran

Educational materials

• Difficulty walking or sitting

• Withdrawal or chronic depression

• Inappropriate sex play or premature understanding of sex

• Feeling threatened by physical contact, closeness

• Poor self-esteem, lack of confidence

• Peer problems, lack of involvement with friends

• Extreme weight change

• Hysteria, lack of emotional control

• Sudden preschool difficulties

Educational materials

• Encourage the child to draw pictures about persons that they like or do not like and then talk about it

• Encourage the child to draw pictures about “good” and “bad” events

• Encourage the child to tell teacher about the “good” and “bad” happenings

• Encourage the child to talk about his/her physical problems

• Remind the child that he or she is not responsible for unpleasant events

• Seeking medical attention if indicated

• Consult with kindergarten psychologist

• Contact parents to inform them about the suspected abuse

• Helping parents to contact social services or social emergency agency

• Instruct the parents for separating the baby from suspicious persons

Educational materials

• Teachers should listen carefully to children’s sexual questions because they may be clues

• Children are generally curious about their bodies and explore them

• Touching their own sexual body parts is common and normal

• Children are usually curious about adult bodies

• Children may play games such as “Doctor” and touch one another’s sexual body parts