Protective Behaviours Victoria - Australia

Happy Mother’s Day

An open letter to parents
(on the eve of Do It For Dolly Day) 💙

I didn’t want to become so well acquainted with bullying, but by default I did.

Because sometimes lived experience teaches you more than any study or book ever could.

And so, if I could ask one thing of parents, it’s this:

If a conversation comes up, please don’t immediately dismiss the idea that your child might be capable of hurting someone else.

We’re all human. We’re all capable of imperfect moments.

And if you remember being a kid, especially a teenager… it was hard to navigate. Sometimes we’re not our best selves.

For a couple of years, my eldest went through horrific bullying.

At the beginning, before I realised just how bad things had become, I reached out to some of the parents involved. Calmly. Not attacking anyone. Just saying, “Hey, this is happening, and I really want it to stop.”

And I know the rule is usually “don’t contact the parents”.

But I was hopeful. Maybe overly so.

These were parents I’d interacted with before, in a friendly way. We’d been in each other’s homes. Our kids had spent time together. I genuinely believed people would want to know if their child was hurting someone.

But I was wrong.

The responses were mostly:
“My daughter would never do that.”

End of conversation.

And in short, things got worse. Much worse. Beyond anything I could’ve imagined.

Even when concerns came from me, the school, or police, there was still denial.

I’ve shared more in depth about our experience before, but today I want to say this:

If someone tells you your child may have hurt another person, take a breath and consider the possibility.

Not so you can shame or break them.
But so you can support them.

Because sometimes hurt people hurt people.

Teenagers are complicated humans.

Your child can be funny, kind, caring, gorgeous at home… and still make cruel choices when they’re around other kids.

That doesn’t make them evil.

It makes them human.

And growing up right now is HARD.

Social media makes everything bigger.
Meaner.
More relentless.

I don’t think my own kids are perfect. Not even close. If someone came to me and said my child had hurt someone, I hope I’d be brave enough to really listen.

Because shutting it down immediately helps nobody.

Not the child being hurt.

And not your child either.

Kids need support.
Guidance.
Someone willing to listen.

Sometimes they need accountability.
A hard conversation.
A chance to learn empathy before harmful behaviour becomes part of who they are.

So if another parent ever comes to you with concern, instead of:
“My child would never…”

Maybe try:
“Thanks for telling me. I’ll talk to them about it.”

That one sentence could change everything.

We’re raising humans.
Messy, emotional, still-learning humans.

And all of them deserve adults willing to listen. 💙

Today, our hearts are heavy.

Another day , another precious life taken.

We mourn the loss of a little girl taken far too soon - a beautiful princess now respectfully referred to as Kumanjayi Little Baby, in accordance with her family’s wishes and cultural protocols.

There are no words that can hold the weight of this. A child should be safe. A child should be held, protected, and loved into tomorrow.

We stand in deep sorrow with her family, her community, and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who carry this grief. We honour her life, her spirit, and the love that surrounds her.

May she be held gently by her ancestors.
May her family be wrapped in care, strength, and community.

This is a time for respect, for listening, and for holding space - not just today, but in the days and weeks ahead.







Exquisite illustration from the book “ respect “ by

🖤💛♥️

Do you agree?

Community sport volunteers need better support to keep children safe from abuse - new research

Content Warning:

TW: the following post contains mention of child abuse.

A year-long covert investigation by Victoria Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team (JACET) began in late 2023 following intelligence shared by Queensland Police Service.

This led to the infiltration of an online group using an encrypted messaging application to share both abhorrent text and image-based material, and to source children for sexual abuse.

The online group was shut down and 26 Victorian-based alleged members were charged with more than 1000 offences, including the possession, access, transmission, solicitation, and production of child abuse material.

Group members shared collections of child abuse material and child sexual abuse fantasies in the mistaken belief the app’s encryption would shield them from detection. This included images and videos depicting the sexual abuse, torture and murder of infants and young children, as well as be******ty.

No newly generated material involving Australian children was identified during the investigation.

As a result of the efforts to identify members of the group, who were believed to be based across Australia and overseas, AFP and Victoria Police JACET investigators executed 31 search warrants across Victoria and seized 100 electronic devices.

About 65,000 unique child abuse images and videos were identified including more than 300 hours of child abuse videos - the equivalent of about 175 feature films.

Nineteen referrals were made to domestic and international law enforcement agencies, which resulted in the arrest of nine further alleged offenders by NSW Police Force.

Read more on the investigation: https://www.police.vic.gov.au/26-charged-1000-offences-major-covert-op-targets-offenders-sharing-violent-child-abuse-material

⚠ Scammers take advantage of data breaches – learn how to shut them down.

Staying informed and alert is your best defence, and there are simple steps you can take to protect yourself and outsmart scammers.

Learn more: https://news.esafety.gov.au/3L9HKVr

In kindergartens across America during the 1950s, a beautiful thing happened every afternoon.

After the alphabet songs. After the crayons were tucked away. After graham crackers and small cartons of milk.

The lights would dim.

A record would begin to spin.

Soft music would fill the room.

And twenty small children would settle onto striped mats, pull up their familiar blankets, and learn something remarkable:

How to be still.

Naptime wasn't considered wasted time. Teachers understood that young minds needed rest—not as a reward, but as part of learning itself. Science has since confirmed what those educators already sensed: daytime napping is crucial for memory consolidation in young children. Their developing brains actually need these pauses to process and store everything they're absorbing.

Some children slept deeply. Others simply lay still, watching dust float through afternoon sunlight, daydreaming in that unhurried way only five-year-olds can.

Even the children who never slept learned something profound: that stillness has value. That you don't always need to be doing something to be worthy.

Then, beginning in the 1970s and accelerating through the 1990s, something shifted.

Kindergarten transformed from a place of socialization and gentle curiosity into something more urgent. Standards rose. Testing crept younger. Academic pressure intensified.

The mats were rolled up and stored away. The record players disappeared.

By the 1990s, naptime had largely vanished from American kindergarten classrooms.

Today, kindergarteners move from reading groups to math centers to screens, often without a single moment to simply pause. Research shows that the time spent on reading and math instruction has increased dramatically, while music, art, and child-selected activities have declined significantly.

Meanwhile, childhood anxiety has risen sharply. Studies show anxiety in children increased 27 percent between 2016 and 2019 alone.

We removed the pause, then wondered why children struggled to breathe.

Those who lived through the naptime era still remember: the feel of that familiar blanket, the kindness of being told it was okay—expected, even—to rest.

We didn't realize we were learning a lesson that would take a lifetime to understand: Rest isn't the opposite of productivity. It's what makes productivity possible.

To every parent watching their exhausted kindergartener: they weren't always asked to go this hard, this young.

To every teacher fighting to protect moments of play and stillness: science has always been on your side.

To anyone who feels guilty for needing to pause: we used to teach five-year-olds that stopping was part of growing.

We once dimmed the lights, put on a record, and gave small children permission to simply be.

Maybe it's time we remembered how.