Public and Private Spaces

What children should know

Children should be able to identify public and private spaces that exist in homes, at school and other places where the child goes. Children should know they are entitled to have some privacy when they are in a space that belongs to them such as their bedroom or other private spaces such as bathrooms and toilets.

Why this is an important part of child sexual abuse prevention

If your child knows there are public and private spaces and that they are entitled to privacy when they, for example, have a shower, are getting changed or are in their bedroom, then it will make them more likely to be able to identify when someone doesn’t allow this opportunity. Introducing concepts of boundaries in relation to privacy educates children about their rights.

Ideas for having conversations on this concept

Related Concepts

“Need to Tell” Situations

Children should be encouraged to talk to their trusted adult if they feel someone is not allowing them to have their privacy when in private spaces (e.g. showering, getting changed) or when the child feels uncomfortable in any way.

Private Body Parts

The game teaches that just as some parts of the body are private, there are also some spaces such as the bathroom, that are private.

Conveyed through the story

Prologue

The player is briefly introduced to the concepts of public and private spaces. The private spaces on the spaceship are the player character’s bedroom, Sammy’s room and the bathroom.

Chapter 1: Togetherness

In this chapter, the player character builds a door forcer robot to force entry into Sammy’s room. At the urging of their trusted adult, the player character chooses to knock on the door instead because this is Sammy’s private space.

Chapter 4: Belief

In this chapter, the player character learns that the person who has been abusing Sammy has not been respecting Sammy’s privacy.

Conveyed through the minigames

Room Decorator

The player can decorate the lounge room and their bedroom. Throughout the game the lounge room is referred to as a public space and the player’s bedroom is referred to as a private space.

Robot Factory

Each robot places their own private parts on their body in a private room (the dressing room) and also puts their “clothes” (paint) on in this private space.

Surveillance Footage

This mini-game shows that the offender has not been respecting Sammy’s privacy.