Our Lady of Mercy parishioner pens kids’ song about abuse prevention (Child Abuse Prevention Month) Video
Ted Clark, a music ministry member at Our Lady of Mercy in Park Ridge, penned a song “That’s my body” performed at Empowering God’s Children sessions throughout the Archdiocese of Newark.
Empowering God’s Children gives children in grades K–12 tools to understand the dangers of predators and how to identify and stop inappropriate behavior.
Performing with his mandolin for a group of children taking the course, Clark quips that people from New Jersey tend to say the second word in a sentence louder than the first like in, “How YOU doing?” He then directs the children to do the same when they join in the chorus: “That’s MY body.”
The song begins: “God loves everyone in a very cool way, that’s what we’re singin’ about today. He gave each of us our own special body and now we know how to keep it safe from somebody who gets too close to your personal boundaries. You can say “No!” because … “That’s MY Body!” the students chime in.
In the next verse, Clark’s song advises that if someone gets too close to their “personal bubble” they should tell a safe adult and they will not get “in trouble.” The next verse gives the children permission to decide their own boundaries: “You can either hug a person or tell them they should stop. If you get a feeling that’s weird or icky, tell a safe adult – that’s not very tricky.”
Clark, who plays eight instruments as a hobby, wrote, and performs the song with the children who attend Empowering God’s Children program throughout the Archdiocese of Newark. The program is taught to children in Catholic Schools and recently expanded to children in public schools who attend faith formation. Clark’s wife, Karen, is the Director of the Department for the Protection of the Faithful, which oversees the program.
When Clark was first asked to write a kids’ song about abuse prevention, he didn’t know where to start, he said.
First, he reviewed the various Empowering God’s Children lesson videos and facilitator guides, which were “very age-appropriate and did a good job addressing threats to kids in a way that wasn’t threatening,” he said.
“I used the phrases they used: — personal bubbles, icky feeling, boundaries, safe adults — then the composing of rhyming lyrics came pretty quickly,” Clark said. “I know that parents are given the opportunity to opt their kids out of the training, perhaps because they may feel the subject matter may be uncomfortable. I would tell them if somebody can write a kids’ sing-along song about it, the content is presented in a comfortable way.”
Featured image: Ted Clark performed at an Empowering God’s Children session “That’s my body.”
The Archdiocese of Newark is committed to helping survivors of childhood sexual abuse heal. Gina Criscuolo, the Coordinator of the Office of Accompaniment, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, provides compassionate and supportive assistance to those who have been harmed in the church. Please visit www.rcan.org and click Safe Environment, or call 201-407-3256.
