Talk to Me: Helping adults speak to children about abuse

Tackling abuse through conversation

Having a serious conversation with a young child can be tricky at the best of times. It can be even harder if you’re concerned that they might be a victim of abuse.

Created in collaboration with safeguarding experts from the NSPCC, ‘Talk to Me’ is an interactive training simulation designed to give adults the confidence to hold difficult conversations with children in the real world. The first two fictional scenarios are set in a school environment and deal with concerns about domestic and sexual abuse.

Ensuring children always feel listened to

Research from the NSPCC’s Let Children Know You’re Listening¹ project has shown that adults don’t always recognize, understand, or react appropriately when a child or young person starts to tell them about experiences of abuse.

This can mean that the child doesn’t get the support they need. Many children will delay telling someone about their situation. And when they do choose to confide in an adult, they are not always comfortable in expressing themselves verbally.

When these subtle attempts to talk about abuse happen, it’s important that adults know how to spot that something isn’t right and make the child feel listened to in that moment.