Overview

"Hamish and the Shadow Secret is written to help parents, carers and teachers prepare and assist children to know what to do and how to recover from viewing explicit, harmful and inappropriate content. Kids are seeing pornography accidentally or deliberately earlier than ever before. In 2008, 14.4% of boys had viewed porn by age 12 or younger. By 2014, this had risen to 48.7%. In 2019, research indicates that 65.5% of boys have seen pornography by age 12 or younger. For girls of the same age, 8.7% had viewed it in 2014, rising to 30% in 2019. Alarmingly, clinicians are reporting cases of children aged as young as five onwards receiving therapeutic interventions. Developmentally, children have limited experiential and cognitive capacity to understand and interpret what they see. The way that children process pornography varies from child to child; however, reported feelings can range from curiosity, disgust, confusion, guilt and arousal. ""I hated this, but I liked it"". ""I don't want to look at more, but I really want to look at more"". ""I think it's bad for me, but I don't really know why"". Internal conflict without the knowledge of why porn is unhealthy, can quickly lead to children believing unhelpful sexual stories (scripts) about themselves and others, which are embedded in violence and inequality, shame and secrecy--unhealthy foundations for brain development and building positive relationships. Additionally, there are a growing number of children who see pornography and then act out inappropriate behaviours on other children. This provides an even greater need for all children to have comprehensive protective behaviours education that includes online safety and an awareness of how to respond to pornography. Hamish and the Shadow Secret is an educational resource for engaging children in a safe and robust conversation about the harms of pornography. Written for children aged 8-12-years, Hamish and the Shadow Secret is a valuable inclusion in every home, school and counselling setting. FURTHER INFORMATION AND RESOURCES CAN BE FOUND AT www.shadowsecret.info"

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9780958027960

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Hamish and the Shadow Secret is one of those books that changes the way we think about the harms of pornography on children. Succinct, beautifully written, and compelling in its storytelling, Hamish is a book that every parent and caregiver should read to their kids as a way to build resilience to the toxic porn culture that has infiltrated the lives of kids across the world. The authors have given parents, and caregiver everywhere, a profound gift! Dr. Gail Dines, President & CEO, Culture Reframed Hamish and the Shadow Secret is an effort to open parents' eyes to what may befall their children in the online world. This taboo topic has become so prevalent that it should be looked at as an epidemic that needs our urgent attention. Child-on-child sexual abuse, exploitation and human trafficking are on the rise, yet people are still silent or unaware of how pornography contributes to this increase. I congratulate my dear friend and colleague, Liz Walker, in the fight against the harms of pornography; and thank Don Truss for joining her to create this educational gem to protect our young loved ones. Wael Ibrahim, Author of Bet it! 50 Plus Shades of Hope and Co-Founder of the Aware Academy. I can't recommend 'Hamish and the Shadow Secret' enough. I read this book with my daughter who is ten and my stepson who is nine - neither have seen pornography. The kids were able to relate really well to Hamish and the illustrations help bring the story to life. As we read about his journey, it helped all of us to be able to understand and name the emotions and physical sensations that children may experience when they are exposed to pornography at a young age, making it a perfect resource for 8 - 12 year old's. Zareen Sheikh-Cope, Founder & Producer Hazardous Journey Productions

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