February 7, 2025 • 28 mins
What does your school teach about preventing child abuse, trafficking and exploitation? What does your school teach about sex and STDs? Is your state an opt-in or opt-out for their health and wellness curriculum? How can you get involved with this type of prevention education?
KEEPING KIDS SAFE ONLINE
Connect with us...
www.nextTalk.org
Facebook
Instagram
Contact Us...
admin@nextTalk.org
P.O. BOX 160111 San Antonio, TX 78280
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Next Talk podcast.
We are a nonprofit passionateabout keeping kids safe online.
We're learning together how tonavigate tech, culture and faith
with our kids.
Today we are joined by AshtonMartinez, and I want to have
Ashton introduce herself andtell you the organization that
(00:22):
she works for.
They are really helping a lotof kids.
Ashton, can you tell ourlisteners about your
organization and who you are?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for having me.
My name is Ashton Martinez andI'm the Director of Education
and Community Engagement at thePaluxy River Children's Advocacy
Center.
So if you are not familiar withwhat a child advocacy center is
, the kind of way that I like toexplain it is we are a
(00:52):
child-friendly kind ofcommunity-based facility that
offers advocacy for children andfamilies who abuse has been a
part of their story, right.
So we typically deal withsexual abuse and physical abuse
in our center and I can go intoa little bit more detail about
kind of the three parts of anadvocacy center.
(01:15):
But we kind of bring thismultidisciplinary approach to
child abuse.
So advocacy centers werecreated out of a need for
children who had been abused tobasically only have to tell
their story one time, and sothat's why advocacy centers kind
of were created to bringtogether all of the entities if
(01:40):
you will, law enforcement, cpsadvocacy here, if you will law
enforcement, cps advocacy here,counseling medical personnel if
needed.
Altogether the child would haveto tell their story one time to
a forensic interviewer at ourcenter and then that way it
would kind of help with theintegrity of the case throughout
, and then we also havecounseling for that child.
(02:02):
Any child that comes through achild advocacy center gets
counseling right for theduration of that need.
And then we provide familyadvocacy for the non-offending
caregiver.
So we walk through with thatcaregiver or family member,
whoever it may be the durationof that case.
And then what I do most of isprevention and education within
(02:26):
schools and the communities thatwe serve.
That's kind of in a nutshell.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
That's amazing.
And child advocacy centersthey're typically the acronym is
CAC, right, that's what youguys refer to them as.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
CACs.
You'll sometimes hear peoplecall them CACs too, like I've
heard that too.
But yeah, cacs is usually whatand they all have different
names.
Um, like ours is PlexiglasRiver Children's Advocacy Center
.
There are other advocacycenters, um, that don't have
child advocacy center in thename, but that's what they are.
So sometimes you don't evenrealize.
(02:59):
Maybe that's what's in yourcommunity until you dig a little
deeper.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
But there CAC and I got to meet Ashton because they
she had me into the community asa prevention right.
This is part of your preventionpiece.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, part of what we do like is try to bring people
from the outside in who areexperts in their field, and so I
was a listener of Next Talk andactually watched a Zoom or
something that you had done withanother CAC, I think, and then
listened to Next Talk for awhile and then thought, oh, I
(03:37):
need to reach out.
So I reached out and you guyscame to our neck of the woods,
if you will, and you came anddid a presentation.
It was amazing.
We got so much good feedback,so thank you for that.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yeah, and we we educated on the online dangers
and what to look for and howimportant that obviously the
communication piece is at home.
I mean, that's, that's reallypart of the prevention piece, so
kids can notice and be alarmedof the warning signs.
And then also when somethinghappens, immediately they know
uh-oh, a line's been crossedhere.
(04:10):
I need to tell somebody.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
And I just want to say something you guys you and
you guys do so well at Next Talkis just make it so relatable
for the parent and the caregiver.
As someone who's been inprevention education and I've
listened to a lot of speakersand a lot of trainings and a lot
of like there's something to besaid about making it like
relatable and a little like moreunderstandable.
(04:36):
That, because that's what drewme to you guys as a parent I was
like OK, this is one of thefirst times I've heard someone
speak and I feel encouraged,like as a parent.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Thank you for saying that.
That's so sweet.
We're so glad it's helpful.
We always want to be real andrelevant and practical.
For sure, when I was talking toyou and I came into your
community after the event, youwere talking to me about ways
you're getting involved in yourpublic school in Texas as a
parent not anything that you ona professional side and I
(05:08):
thought it was so interestingand I thought you know, I don't
think a lot of parents know thatthey can get involved in their
public schools this way.
Now I do want to cautionlisteners.
This is for Texas, only Texaspublic schools.
And then at the end we're goingto talk about, maybe, if you're
outside of Texas, somequestions that you could ask if
you want to get involved.
But, ashton, if you could liketake our audience along on that
(05:31):
conversation after that eventand we were talking and telling
our audience how you gotinvolved in your kids school.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Kind of the way it all started was I was also a
parent who was unaware, I didn'tknow that I had access to, kind
of like have conversations withthe ISD that my own kids were
in, and I have a five-year-oldand an eight-year-old boy, so
they're in kindergarten andthird grade.
And it wasn't until I came andstarted working at the advocacy
(06:02):
center that I was introduced tolike, hey, some new kind of
terminology, a SHAC committee,for example.
And what's a SHAC committee?
Right, and so that stands for aSchool Health Advisory Council.
But you'll often hear themreferred to as SHAC committees,
sometimes Student HealthAdvisory Council, sometimes
(06:23):
people, but School HealthAdvisory Council, right.
And so what is that?
Well, we, as someone that's apart of the education team at
the advocacy center, I would sitin on those, and I learned a
lot more that, oh, parents areon these SHAC committees.
So that's when I started my ownpersonal kind of journey on
what a SHAC committee is, notonly professionally, but what
(06:45):
that meant personally as well.
And so I think something thatparents in the state of Texas
right, it is a part of the Texaseducation code that every
school district have a SHACcommittee.
Okay, it's, it's in the law so,and those committees have to be
made up.
Those are all you can look thisup on, like texasgov if you
(07:08):
wanted to.
But in those SHAC committeesthey have to consist of parents.
The majority of that committeehas to be parents.
Now there can be some schooladministrators or like teachers,
something like that, on theircommunity members, but most of
that committee has to be parentsthat on their community members
, but most of that committee hasto be parents.
(07:28):
And what that committee does isit votes on, if you will, and
makes decisions about a lot ofthings health related in our
schools.
But as it relates to what we'redoing at the CAC, and what I
was really interested in as aparent was the education around
child abuse, preventing,reporting, all of that kind of
(07:49):
stuff.
The curriculum what's beingtaught to my children?
Is there anything being taughtto my children?
If so, what is that curriculum,that kind of stuff?
And the SHAC committee is whodecides that.
So if you are a parent, that iskind of curious.
You don't really know what isbeing taught in your schools.
You don't really know ifanything at all, and you want to
(08:11):
start that conversation.
A great place to look would beif your school.
If your ISD has a SHACcommittee, who that kind of who
that person is at the ISD thatruns it, then send them an email
and just say, hey, I heardabout this committee.
I'm interested in knowing moreabout it.
What can you tell me?
Speaker 1 (08:30):
So you started serving on this SHAC committee
in your school district.
Now, this is not an electableposition, not like school board,
where you have to get elected,correct.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Nope, absolutely not.
There are no like as far aslike qualifications.
Any parent can be interested inbeing on the SHAC committee.
Now I know for my own personalfor the ISD that my kids are in
Right.
They try to make sure thatthere's a representative from
each elementary school, and so Iwill say I went.
I went in a year prior andexpressed my interest in wanting
(09:04):
to be on the SHAC committee andthat elementary school that my
kids went to already had thatposition filled, but they were
rolling off the next year.
So basically they said nextyear you're the next one in line
.
So that might, you might couldrun into that potentially, but
if so you can still like.
(09:26):
What another thing that SHACcommittees are required to do
it's in their law.
The bylaws for SHAC committeesis post their minutes.
So even if you're not on thecommittee itself, you want to
know what they're talking about,you want to know what they're
discussing, those kinds ofthings.
The minutes have to be postedas well.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
And who's on the committee.
I mean, a lot of people justdon't even know this committee
exists, right, and that it'seven a requirement.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
It's not even that Some schools have them.
Because it's helpful.
It's actually in the TexasEducation Code.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Well, and I think too , just I think this is your
story and how you stumbled upon,I think is such a testament to
how we assume we know what'sgoing on, but we don't and even
you in working in a CAC, didn'tknow that this was a possibility
for you to serve your school inthis way, and so that's one of
(10:20):
the reasons why we wanted to dothis show is just to say, hey,
you want to get more involvedwith your kid's school, what's
going on on the SHAC committeeand figuring out what they're
doing, because that would alsoinclude, like sexual curriculum,
all of that stuff is going tobe included, all of that Sex ed,
all of that.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Smaller school districts I want to give them
like a shout out, becausesometimes they're just a little
bit behind the curve right ongetting things implemented.
And so if you find that yourISD maybe doesn't have a SHAC
(11:00):
committee or maybe they're abigger school district and they
don't don't assume that that'sintentional they may just need
someone to express some interest.
They may have had a change instaff or administration.
Maybe they don't even realizelike, oh, this is kind of an
area where we need to improve,because something that kind of
helps prove the need, if youwill, of a SHAC committee is
Jenna's Law, which, again, someparents don't know that there's
(11:22):
a law that was implemented in2009 in the state of Texas,
basically, that requires publicschools to provide this
prevention, education of childabuse, how to recognize and
report that to staff and tochildren that are in public
schools and to children that arein public schools, and then, in
(11:43):
2017, I believe, is when it wasamended to include sex
trafficking from the age ofseventh grade and older.
So there is a law in Texas thatstates that schools have to be
providing this education, whichRight SHAC committees within
ISDs help make the decisions onthat curriculum.
(12:04):
And, as a parent, that's howyou can be on the front lines,
kind of helping make thosedecisions.
And, like for me, when I, whenI did get on my boys SHAC
committee for our ISD, they werealready in the midst of
reviewing some curriculum.
So I was encouraged because I'mlike you know they're already
(12:30):
kind of doing some of the thingsand so they approved a
curriculum and that'll actuallyroll out this year for the first
time, which I'm excited about.
But yeah, so, if that helps, alittle bit of background to
knowing about that law.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
I think that's great and you can.
you can see on those timestampsof those laws how we're evolving
and trying to educate astechnology becomes part of the
situation, because with sextrafficking, I immediately go to
more of the technology side ofthat, even the online grooming
and stuff that's happening, sothat's great.
I also think it's wonderful thatyou said you know, just because
(13:04):
a school may not have a shackcommittee or may not have
updated curriculum yet, it's notthat they don't want to do it,
and I think that's so importantnot to ever assume the worst of
your kid's school For sure.
I think we live in a hostileenvironment where critical eyes
and everything and everybody'slike you stand up for your kids
(13:25):
and you be combative.
But I think we need to bereally careful with that,
because we've got so manyoverworked teachers and school
administrators and they aredoing the best they can and so
many times this is on a to-dolist but then an emergency
happens and it keeps gettingpushed back.
So I do think we need to givesome grace here If you run into
(13:46):
your school district and youdon't have they don't have a
shack committee or they're kindof behind in getting this up and
running.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
It's one of those things if you come in kind of
accusatory well, I know thatyou're supposed to have this,
this and may not turn out theway you would hope, whereas if
you come in as a hey, this issomething I learned, something I
would love to be a part of, youknow, probably the outcome
would be more positive, and Iwould just encourage anyone, if
you discover that, to kind ofapproach it that way Absolutely,
(14:20):
and joining it too.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
I mean you have people who've served on there
and have rolled out curriculumthat may or may need to be
updated, and just give grace,because we're I think most of us
are just doing the best we cando here and getting and getting
the um, getting the rightcurriculum, out to the kids.
I do want to shout out to mykids are in the public school
and, um, you know, I've got onein college, but my son is still
in a public school.
I've never been involved in ashack committee.
(14:42):
I have interviewed someone elsewho was an RN, who was on a
shack committee and helpeddetermine this.
But I will say one of thethings that I have appreciated
at my kids' school, that I haveloved so much as a parent, is I
get a notice every time we'regetting ready to start sex ed
that I can come to this meetingand I go and they have every
(15:03):
day's material laid out on atable where I can see exactly
what is being taught every day,and they respect that.
I want to see what's beingtaught and then I can carry on
the conversation at home and addmy faith to it, or you know,
however, I want to adjust, toput it through the spiritual
(15:24):
lens that I, that you know wewould in our home, and to your
point.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
So getting the notice , senate Bill 9 is another piece
of like legislature, so SenateBill 9 came through in 2023,
actually.
So we used to be an opt outstate.
Now we are opt in, meaning youwill get that notice and schools
(15:49):
are required they can sendthose notices no less than 14
days prior to the curriculumthat's going to be taught, with
a detail of what they're goingto go over.
And then you have to opt in foryour child to attend that
curriculum and that has to bereceived by the school, right?
(16:09):
As opposed to, oh, the lettergoes home and it gets lost and
it never comes back.
It used to be an opt out and soif you didn't get that, you
assumed that it was okay thatthey went.
Now it's very much black andwhite, more of an opt-in.
But, to your point, part ofthat opt-in is creating
(16:32):
opportunities for you to see thecurriculum before it's given to
them, right?
So we do like parentinformation meetings so we can
go over our curriculum.
So, however your school decidesto deliver that, I would
encourage anyone with questionsbecause sometimes it is scary if
you hear sex ed or preventioneducation.
I had a mom email me the otherday and she has a third grader
(16:53):
and she said you know, I'm justcurious, like what is the
verbiage that we use for sexualabuse?
That's a valid concern of athird grader?
I have a third grader, you know.
I was so glad she reached out.
But that's what those educationkind of informative meetings
are for.
If you have any questions, goto those so they can answer them
(17:14):
and you can see the curriculum.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
So that that opt in, that changed in 2023.
Is that what you said?
Yes, okay, so that's a newthing because that was the
latest.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
that was the latest update, um you know to it was in
2023.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Yes, Okay, yeah, because I I was an opt out.
I'm pretty sure, but it'sswitched now to an opt in.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Now it's an opt in, you have to have explicit
consent that they're allowed togo.
It was opt-out before that.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Yeah, the other thing that I will say, too, is this I
went almost every year, exceptlike the last year, because I
knew what was happening.
But I went almost every year tothose meetings and I was
shocked at how many parents didnot go.
I just want to say to ourlisteners it's really important
(18:05):
that when you get information onhealth, wellness, prevention,
education, anything like that,you want to be involved in those
conversations, because they'realways going to tie into to the
online stuff that we're talkingabout at Next Talk.
The grooming, the manipulationall of that stuff is going to be
included in that, and it's agreat tie in when you've been
(18:27):
saying this stuff at home andthen the school now says it, and
then you can circle back andtie it all together and it
really is like a villagespeaking into your kid to make
sure they're safe.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yes, absolutely, and I say that even to my friends
Say that you are a listener whodoes attend these meetings and
maybe you do have a little bitmore information, like I
encourage my friends to attendthese things.
I'm like when you get that, go,yes, listen, and sometimes I
just think people think, oh,this is really and truly.
(19:01):
Once they're there, they'relike, oh, this is important
information.
I'm really glad I attended.
It's one of those sometimes youjust have to like kind of rip
the bandaid off and do somethingthat feels a little bit out of
the ordinary for you and in theend it really is beneficial.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
I remember in sixth grade, when my little sixth
grader was being told thedefinition of anal and oral sex,
I was like whoa, what, what?
And then I went and she waslike listen, we're just told,
we're just telling them that itis sex and STDs, and it was no
more, that there wasn't anythinggraphic there.
That was left up toconversations at home.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
if we were going to have those conversations, which
we did, which speaks to theimportance of those
conversations, because if you'renot having them at home,
they're going to ask friends.
They're going to ask friends offriends.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
they're going to ask the internet, and we all know
what happens when, when, thathappens Well, and I remember as
a parent of a young, of a youngmiddle schooler for the first
time.
I just remember thinking it'stoo soon, too fast, like we
don't need to cover this.
But the way it was presented inour sex ed class was we don't
(20:12):
want them thinking that theycan't, there's not consequences
of that, like there's STDsinvolved with that.
We need, they need to make surethat that is sex and we're not
going to get into the graphicsof it and answer detailed
questions about it.
But they do need to know it is,it is intercourse, and I just
that was eyeopening to me ofokay, we're not, nobody's
(20:33):
pushing an agenda on my kid here.
It's literally like thedefinition and we the fact of
that.
It is sex, that it is sex andthere are consequences from it.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
And so.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
I would again.
I remember that I almost got adefensive.
What are you trying to push onmy kid, this sexual life stuff
so fast?
That's not always the case, andso we just need to pause and
really look at the curriculum.
And what are they trying to doin this curriculum and what does
it look like?
Speaker 2 (21:03):
And the way that you do that is by attending those
meetings, getting on your SHACcommittee and things like that.
That's how you get involved.
You can be an activeparticipant.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
And at least be in the know.
Even if the SHAC committee isfull and you can't serve, you're
in the know, you know who's onit and you're watching the
minutes and that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Yes, you can ask the questions.
You know, if you see somethingin those minutes and you have a
question email the secretaryemail, the one I mean the names
are listed there and yourdistrict should provide whoever
it is that's kind of in charge,if you will, of the committee,
who's kind of spearheading it.
But you can just shoot an emailhey, I have a question about
(21:45):
this.
You know Absolutely, andthey'll answer that.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
So we're talking about Texas public schools right
now.
We have a lot of listenersacross the US and say they're
out there and, like man, I wantto get involved.
They're out there and, like man, I want to get involved.
How does my sex ed curriculumget passed and who makes those
decisions?
What kinds of questions or whodo you think they should contact
(22:09):
for that information?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Great question.
So the first thing that I woulddo, depending on the state that
I'm in, would be to you know,sometimes Google is our friend
would be to you know sometimesGoogle is our friend to ask
Google what laws are in place inmy state that requires public
education, you know, to educatemy kids on if it's sex ed you're
curious about if it'sprevention education, because I
(22:34):
mentioned Jenna's law here inthe state of Texas, but 35 other
states in the United Stateshave Aaron's law, which is a
very similar law.
Okay, so there's a good chanceright that your state falls
under Aaron's law which says,hey, we require all public
schools to give this curriculumRight, and so that would kind of
give you again a foothold tostart that conversation with
(22:56):
your ISD.
I know New York has a Senatebill, oregon has a Senate bill,
oregon has a Senate bill thatrequires those things.
So if it's not Jenna's law, ifit's not Aaron's law, it could
be a Senate bill.
So start just trying to figureout if there is a law in place.
I would say the majority ofstates in the United States have
a law in place.
Once you figure out what that is, go to your ISD and just say
(23:18):
hey, I'm curious what we'redoing to fulfill this, to
fulfill Aaron's law, to fulfillSenate bill, whatever.
What curriculum are we teachingour kids?
I don't know that they have tohave a shack committee, right.
I don't.
I'm not super.
I know Texas Education Code.
We have shack committees arerequired.
(23:39):
They may call it something else.
You can look into your gov,kind of, and see what your
education code says.
But I think you can start theconversation simply by saying I
know Aaron's law or I know thisSenate bill says that this is
supposed to be provided to allpublic school students.
What are we doing to meet thatlaw in this ISD, if you're not
(24:02):
aware?
And that should start theconversation.
And you could even say I'veheard of student or school
health advisory councils.
Do we have anything like thathere?
Kind of starting thoseconversations, I think is just
the easiest way to do it andthat and they'll get you to the
(24:23):
right person.
There's going to be someonethat's over health curriculum
for an ISD, right, just likethere's somebody who's over
English curriculum and mathcurriculum and things like that.
And then you just kind of gofrom there and decide is this
something they're already doing?
Your state may not be an opt-instate right.
So they may.
You may not even realize thatthey're already doing that, and
(24:44):
they just aren't required tosend the permission slip home,
right?
Well and that's a question thatyou need to know as a parent.
If that's what I, that's kind ofwhat that, if you're, if you
don't know, I would ask becauseit could be that they're already
doing it and they don't have tosend the permission slip home
to do that.
So it's worth asking kind of onall fronts for all that
(25:08):
information.
What is the curriculum?
If they aren't doing it?
What can we do to get that inplace?
If they are doing it, have youbeen notified?
Did you even know?
You know that was happening.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
So I think that's great because and again I want
to reiterate, this is not anaccusatory.
This is not assuming the schoolis doing anything wrong.
That's not what we're saying.
We just want you to know whatyour kid is being taught so you
can have the conversations athome, fill in the gaps or
whatever else, and that you justneed to know that.
(25:42):
You need to know what is beingtaught to your children and
being involved in theireducation.
One other question for you,ashton how have you liked
serving on this committee?
Speaker 2 (25:54):
On the shack.
So I've enjoyed it for a coupleof reasons.
One, it makes me feel like anactive participant right, and
just like what my kids are beingeducated about when it comes to
those important kind of hottopics sometimes.
But also I didn't realize I meanwe kind of like get to hear
(26:16):
from the head of like nutritionbecause that falls under the
health umbrella, so we getupdates like from the head of
nutrition for our ISD and wetalk about things that I didn't
even realize.
You know the school nursedoesn't update and we just all
of our schools got EpiPens likein the nurse's office and that
was a big deal because we didn'thave that, and so it really
(26:39):
keeps me in the know about somany things and just meeting
kind of community members andother parents who are kind of
just concerned with the samethings and want to do good.
That's what I've loved so muchabout serving on the SHAC
committee in my personal role.
I'm on several SHAC committeesprofessionally, which is great
(27:02):
too.
It looks a little bit differentbut I have enjoyed like the
collaborative round table kindof feel that SHAC committees
have.
They're not super formal, theyreally are collaborative, just a
place for everybody to cometogether and make decisions on
what's best for kids just aplace for everybody to come
together and make decisions onwhat's best for kids.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
I love that.
I love that so much.
We need more parents beinginvolved in the public schools.
I mean they do so much for ourkids.
I mean so much and I think themore we can get involved and
help and be part of the process,I mean it truly takes all of us
.
Absolutely, I agree.
Well, thank you so much fordoing this show.
I think it was super helpful.
If we get any questions, I maybe sending them your way, if
that's okay.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Absolutely Always send them my way.
I'm so thankful to have beenhere and hope that this
information gives somebody outthere just a little bit of you
know what.
I'm going to take thisinformation and be proactive
with it, because we knowknowledge is power.
Sometimes we want to do better.
We just don't know how.
So maybe you, being a part ofyour local SHAC committee or
(28:09):
asking questions for your ISDnear you, can kind of help you
do that Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Thank you so much, ashton, full of great
information.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Bye.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Next Talk is a 501c3 nonprofit keeping kids safe
online.
To support our work, make adonation at nexttalkorg.
Next Talk resources are notintended to replace the advice
of a trained healthcare or legalprofessional, or to diagnose,
treat or otherwise render expertadvice regarding any type of
medical, psychological, legal,financial or other problem.
You are advised to consult aqualified expert for your
(28:40):
personal treatment plan.
Welcome to the Next Talk podcast.
We are a nonprofit passionateabout keeping kids safe online.
We're learning together how tonavigate tech, culture and faith
with our kids.
Today we are joined by AshtonMartinez, and I want to have
Ashton introduce herself andtell you the organization that
(00:22):
she works for.
They are really helping a lotof kids.
Ashton, can you tell ourlisteners about your
organization and who you are?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for having me.
My name is Ashton Martinez andI'm the Director of Education
and Community Engagement at thePaluxy River Children's Advocacy
Center.
So if you are not familiar withwhat a child advocacy center is
, the kind of way that I like toexplain it is we are a
(00:52):
child-friendly kind ofcommunity-based facility that
offers advocacy for children andfamilies who abuse has been a
part of their story, right.
So we typically deal withsexual abuse and physical abuse
in our center and I can go intoa little bit more detail about
kind of the three parts of anadvocacy center.
(01:15):
But we kind of bring thismultidisciplinary approach to
child abuse.
So advocacy centers werecreated out of a need for
children who had been abused tobasically only have to tell
their story one time, and sothat's why advocacy centers kind
of were created to bringtogether all of the entities if
(01:40):
you will, law enforcement, cpsadvocacy here, if you will law
enforcement, cps advocacy here,counseling medical personnel if
needed.
Altogether the child would haveto tell their story one time to
a forensic interviewer at ourcenter and then that way it
would kind of help with theintegrity of the case throughout
, and then we also havecounseling for that child.
(02:02):
Any child that comes through achild advocacy center gets
counseling right for theduration of that need.
And then we provide familyadvocacy for the non-offending
caregiver.
So we walk through with thatcaregiver or family member,
whoever it may be the durationof that case.
And then what I do most of isprevention and education within
(02:26):
schools and the communities thatwe serve.
That's kind of in a nutshell.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
That's amazing.
And child advocacy centersthey're typically the acronym is
CAC, right, that's what youguys refer to them as.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
CACs.
You'll sometimes hear peoplecall them CACs too, like I've
heard that too.
But yeah, cacs is usually whatand they all have different
names.
Um, like ours is PlexiglasRiver Children's Advocacy Center
.
There are other advocacycenters, um, that don't have
child advocacy center in thename, but that's what they are.
So sometimes you don't evenrealize.
(02:59):
Maybe that's what's in yourcommunity until you dig a little
deeper.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
But there CAC and I got to meet Ashton because they
she had me into the community asa prevention right.
This is part of your preventionpiece.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, part of what we do like is try to bring people
from the outside in who areexperts in their field, and so I
was a listener of Next Talk andactually watched a Zoom or
something that you had done withanother CAC, I think, and then
listened to Next Talk for awhile and then thought, oh, I
(03:37):
need to reach out.
So I reached out and you guyscame to our neck of the woods,
if you will, and you came anddid a presentation.
It was amazing.
We got so much good feedback,so thank you for that.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yeah, and we we educated on the online dangers
and what to look for and howimportant that obviously the
communication piece is at home.
I mean, that's, that's reallypart of the prevention piece, so
kids can notice and be alarmedof the warning signs.
And then also when somethinghappens, immediately they know
uh-oh, a line's been crossedhere.
(04:10):
I need to tell somebody.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
And I just want to say something you guys you and
you guys do so well at Next Talkis just make it so relatable
for the parent and the caregiver.
As someone who's been inprevention education and I've
listened to a lot of speakersand a lot of trainings and a lot
of like there's something to besaid about making it like
relatable and a little like moreunderstandable.
(04:36):
That, because that's what drewme to you guys as a parent I was
like OK, this is one of thefirst times I've heard someone
speak and I feel encouraged,like as a parent.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Thank you for saying that.
That's so sweet.
We're so glad it's helpful.
We always want to be real andrelevant and practical.
For sure, when I was talking toyou and I came into your
community after the event, youwere talking to me about ways
you're getting involved in yourpublic school in Texas as a
parent not anything that you ona professional side and I
(05:08):
thought it was so interestingand I thought you know, I don't
think a lot of parents know thatthey can get involved in their
public schools this way.
Now I do want to cautionlisteners.
This is for Texas, only Texaspublic schools.
And then at the end we're goingto talk about, maybe, if you're
outside of Texas, somequestions that you could ask if
you want to get involved.
But, ashton, if you could liketake our audience along on that
(05:31):
conversation after that eventand we were talking and telling
our audience how you gotinvolved in your kids school.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Kind of the way it all started was I was also a
parent who was unaware, I didn'tknow that I had access to, kind
of like have conversations withthe ISD that my own kids were
in, and I have a five-year-oldand an eight-year-old boy, so
they're in kindergarten andthird grade.
And it wasn't until I came andstarted working at the advocacy
(06:02):
center that I was introduced tolike, hey, some new kind of
terminology, a SHAC committee,for example.
And what's a SHAC committee?
Right, and so that stands for aSchool Health Advisory Council.
But you'll often hear themreferred to as SHAC committees,
sometimes Student HealthAdvisory Council, sometimes
(06:23):
people, but School HealthAdvisory Council, right.
And so what is that?
Well, we, as someone that's apart of the education team at
the advocacy center, I would sitin on those, and I learned a
lot more that, oh, parents areon these SHAC committees.
So that's when I started my ownpersonal kind of journey on
what a SHAC committee is, notonly professionally, but what
(06:45):
that meant personally as well.
And so I think something thatparents in the state of Texas
right, it is a part of the Texaseducation code that every
school district have a SHACcommittee.
Okay, it's, it's in the law so,and those committees have to be
made up.
Those are all you can look thisup on, like texasgov if you
(07:08):
wanted to.
But in those SHAC committeesthey have to consist of parents.
The majority of that committeehas to be parents.
Now there can be some schooladministrators or like teachers,
something like that, on theircommunity members, but most of
that committee has to be parentsthat on their community members
, but most of that committee hasto be parents.
(07:28):
And what that committee does isit votes on, if you will, and
makes decisions about a lot ofthings health related in our
schools.
But as it relates to what we'redoing at the CAC, and what I
was really interested in as aparent was the education around
child abuse, preventing,reporting, all of that kind of
(07:49):
stuff.
The curriculum what's beingtaught to my children?
Is there anything being taughtto my children?
If so, what is that curriculum,that kind of stuff?
And the SHAC committee is whodecides that.
So if you are a parent, that iskind of curious.
You don't really know what isbeing taught in your schools.
You don't really know ifanything at all, and you want to
(08:11):
start that conversation.
A great place to look would beif your school.
If your ISD has a SHACcommittee, who that kind of who
that person is at the ISD thatruns it, then send them an email
and just say, hey, I heardabout this committee.
I'm interested in knowing moreabout it.
What can you tell me?
Speaker 1 (08:30):
So you started serving on this SHAC committee
in your school district.
Now, this is not an electableposition, not like school board,
where you have to get elected,correct.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Nope, absolutely not.
There are no like as far aslike qualifications.
Any parent can be interested inbeing on the SHAC committee.
Now I know for my own personalfor the ISD that my kids are in
Right.
They try to make sure thatthere's a representative from
each elementary school, and so Iwill say I went.
I went in a year prior andexpressed my interest in wanting
(09:04):
to be on the SHAC committee andthat elementary school that my
kids went to already had thatposition filled, but they were
rolling off the next year.
So basically they said nextyear you're the next one in line
.
So that might, you might couldrun into that potentially, but
if so you can still like.
(09:26):
What another thing that SHACcommittees are required to do
it's in their law.
The bylaws for SHAC committeesis post their minutes.
So even if you're not on thecommittee itself, you want to
know what they're talking about,you want to know what they're
discussing, those kinds ofthings.
The minutes have to be postedas well.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
And who's on the committee.
I mean, a lot of people justdon't even know this committee
exists, right, and that it'seven a requirement.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
It's not even that Some schools have them.
Because it's helpful.
It's actually in the TexasEducation Code.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Well, and I think too , just I think this is your
story and how you stumbled upon,I think is such a testament to
how we assume we know what'sgoing on, but we don't and even
you in working in a CAC, didn'tknow that this was a possibility
for you to serve your school inthis way, and so that's one of
(10:20):
the reasons why we wanted to dothis show is just to say, hey,
you want to get more involvedwith your kid's school, what's
going on on the SHAC committeeand figuring out what they're
doing, because that would alsoinclude, like sexual curriculum,
all of that stuff is going tobe included, all of that Sex ed,
all of that.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Smaller school districts I want to give them
like a shout out, becausesometimes they're just a little
bit behind the curve right ongetting things implemented.
And so if you find that yourISD maybe doesn't have a SHAC
(11:00):
committee or maybe they're abigger school district and they
don't don't assume that that'sintentional they may just need
someone to express some interest.
They may have had a change instaff or administration.
Maybe they don't even realizelike, oh, this is kind of an
area where we need to improve,because something that kind of
helps prove the need, if youwill, of a SHAC committee is
Jenna's Law, which, again, someparents don't know that there's
(11:22):
a law that was implemented in2009 in the state of Texas,
basically, that requires publicschools to provide this
prevention, education of childabuse, how to recognize and
report that to staff and tochildren that are in public
schools and to children that arein public schools, and then, in
(11:43):
2017, I believe, is when it wasamended to include sex
trafficking from the age ofseventh grade and older.
So there is a law in Texas thatstates that schools have to be
providing this education, whichRight SHAC committees within
ISDs help make the decisions onthat curriculum.
(12:04):
And, as a parent, that's howyou can be on the front lines,
kind of helping make thosedecisions.
And, like for me, when I, whenI did get on my boys SHAC
committee for our ISD, they werealready in the midst of
reviewing some curriculum.
So I was encouraged because I'mlike you know they're already
(12:30):
kind of doing some of the thingsand so they approved a
curriculum and that'll actuallyroll out this year for the first
time, which I'm excited about.
But yeah, so, if that helps, alittle bit of background to
knowing about that law.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
I think that's great and you can.
you can see on those timestampsof those laws how we're evolving
and trying to educate astechnology becomes part of the
situation, because with sextrafficking, I immediately go to
more of the technology side ofthat, even the online grooming
and stuff that's happening, sothat's great.
I also think it's wonderful thatyou said you know, just because
(13:04):
a school may not have a shackcommittee or may not have
updated curriculum yet, it's notthat they don't want to do it,
and I think that's so importantnot to ever assume the worst of
your kid's school For sure.
I think we live in a hostileenvironment where critical eyes
and everything and everybody'slike you stand up for your kids
(13:25):
and you be combative.
But I think we need to bereally careful with that,
because we've got so manyoverworked teachers and school
administrators and they aredoing the best they can and so
many times this is on a to-dolist but then an emergency
happens and it keeps gettingpushed back.
So I do think we need to givesome grace here If you run into
(13:46):
your school district and youdon't have they don't have a
shack committee or they're kindof behind in getting this up and
running.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
It's one of those things if you come in kind of
accusatory well, I know thatyou're supposed to have this,
this and may not turn out theway you would hope, whereas if
you come in as a hey, this issomething I learned, something I
would love to be a part of, youknow, probably the outcome
would be more positive, and Iwould just encourage anyone, if
you discover that, to kind ofapproach it that way Absolutely,
(14:20):
and joining it too.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
I mean you have people who've served on there
and have rolled out curriculumthat may or may need to be
updated, and just give grace,because we're I think most of us
are just doing the best we cando here and getting and getting
the um, getting the rightcurriculum, out to the kids.
I do want to shout out to mykids are in the public school
and, um, you know, I've got onein college, but my son is still
in a public school.
I've never been involved in ashack committee.
(14:42):
I have interviewed someone elsewho was an RN, who was on a
shack committee and helpeddetermine this.
But I will say one of thethings that I have appreciated
at my kids' school, that I haveloved so much as a parent, is I
get a notice every time we'regetting ready to start sex ed
that I can come to this meetingand I go and they have every
(15:03):
day's material laid out on atable where I can see exactly
what is being taught every day,and they respect that.
I want to see what's beingtaught and then I can carry on
the conversation at home and addmy faith to it, or you know,
however, I want to adjust, toput it through the spiritual
(15:24):
lens that I, that you know wewould in our home, and to your
point.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
So getting the notice , senate Bill 9 is another piece
of like legislature, so SenateBill 9 came through in 2023,
actually.
So we used to be an opt outstate.
Now we are opt in, meaning youwill get that notice and schools
(15:49):
are required they can sendthose notices no less than 14
days prior to the curriculumthat's going to be taught, with
a detail of what they're goingto go over.
And then you have to opt in foryour child to attend that
curriculum and that has to bereceived by the school, right?
(16:09):
As opposed to, oh, the lettergoes home and it gets lost and
it never comes back.
It used to be an opt out and soif you didn't get that, you
assumed that it was okay thatthey went.
Now it's very much black andwhite, more of an opt-in.
But, to your point, part ofthat opt-in is creating
(16:32):
opportunities for you to see thecurriculum before it's given to
them, right?
So we do like parentinformation meetings so we can
go over our curriculum.
So, however your school decidesto deliver that, I would
encourage anyone with questionsbecause sometimes it is scary if
you hear sex ed or preventioneducation.
I had a mom email me the otherday and she has a third grader
(16:53):
and she said you know, I'm justcurious, like what is the
verbiage that we use for sexualabuse?
That's a valid concern of athird grader?
I have a third grader, you know.
I was so glad she reached out.
But that's what those educationkind of informative meetings
are for.
If you have any questions, goto those so they can answer them
(17:14):
and you can see the curriculum.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
So that that opt in, that changed in 2023.
Is that what you said?
Yes, okay, so that's a newthing because that was the
latest.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
that was the latest update, um you know to it was in
2023.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Yes, Okay, yeah, because I I was an opt out.
I'm pretty sure, but it'sswitched now to an opt in.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Now it's an opt in, you have to have explicit
consent that they're allowed togo.
It was opt-out before that.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Yeah, the other thing that I will say, too, is this I
went almost every year, exceptlike the last year, because I
knew what was happening.
But I went almost every year tothose meetings and I was
shocked at how many parents didnot go.
I just want to say to ourlisteners it's really important
(18:05):
that when you get information onhealth, wellness, prevention,
education, anything like that,you want to be involved in those
conversations, because they'realways going to tie into to the
online stuff that we're talkingabout at Next Talk.
The grooming, the manipulationall of that stuff is going to be
included in that, and it's agreat tie in when you've been
(18:27):
saying this stuff at home andthen the school now says it, and
then you can circle back andtie it all together and it
really is like a villagespeaking into your kid to make
sure they're safe.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yes, absolutely, and I say that even to my friends
Say that you are a listener whodoes attend these meetings and
maybe you do have a little bitmore information, like I
encourage my friends to attendthese things.
I'm like when you get that, go,yes, listen, and sometimes I
just think people think, oh,this is really and truly.
(19:01):
Once they're there, they'relike, oh, this is important
information.
I'm really glad I attended.
It's one of those sometimes youjust have to like kind of rip
the bandaid off and do somethingthat feels a little bit out of
the ordinary for you and in theend it really is beneficial.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
I remember in sixth grade, when my little sixth
grader was being told thedefinition of anal and oral sex,
I was like whoa, what, what?
And then I went and she waslike listen, we're just told,
we're just telling them that itis sex and STDs, and it was no
more, that there wasn't anythinggraphic there.
That was left up toconversations at home.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
if we were going to have those conversations, which
we did, which speaks to theimportance of those
conversations, because if you'renot having them at home,
they're going to ask friends.
They're going to ask friends offriends.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
they're going to ask the internet, and we all know
what happens when, when, thathappens Well, and I remember as
a parent of a young, of a youngmiddle schooler for the first
time.
I just remember thinking it'stoo soon, too fast, like we
don't need to cover this.
But the way it was presented inour sex ed class was we don't
(20:12):
want them thinking that theycan't, there's not consequences
of that, like there's STDsinvolved with that.
We need, they need to make surethat that is sex and we're not
going to get into the graphicsof it and answer detailed
questions about it.
But they do need to know it is,it is intercourse, and I just
that was eyeopening to me ofokay, we're not, nobody's
(20:33):
pushing an agenda on my kid here.
It's literally like thedefinition and we the fact of
that.
It is sex, that it is sex andthere are consequences from it.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
And so.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
I would again.
I remember that I almost got adefensive.
What are you trying to push onmy kid, this sexual life stuff
so fast?
That's not always the case, andso we just need to pause and
really look at the curriculum.
And what are they trying to doin this curriculum and what does
it look like?
Speaker 2 (21:03):
And the way that you do that is by attending those
meetings, getting on your SHACcommittee and things like that.
That's how you get involved.
You can be an activeparticipant.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
And at least be in the know.
Even if the SHAC committee isfull and you can't serve, you're
in the know, you know who's onit and you're watching the
minutes and that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Yes, you can ask the questions.
You know, if you see somethingin those minutes and you have a
question email the secretaryemail, the one I mean the names
are listed there and yourdistrict should provide whoever
it is that's kind of in charge,if you will, of the committee,
who's kind of spearheading it.
But you can just shoot an emailhey, I have a question about
(21:45):
this.
You know Absolutely, andthey'll answer that.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
So we're talking about Texas public schools right
now.
We have a lot of listenersacross the US and say they're
out there and, like man, I wantto get involved.
They're out there and, like man, I want to get involved.
How does my sex ed curriculumget passed and who makes those
decisions?
What kinds of questions or whodo you think they should contact
(22:09):
for that information?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Great question.
So the first thing that I woulddo, depending on the state that
I'm in, would be to you know,sometimes Google is our friend
would be to you know sometimesGoogle is our friend to ask
Google what laws are in place inmy state that requires public
education, you know, to educatemy kids on if it's sex ed you're
curious about if it'sprevention education, because I
(22:34):
mentioned Jenna's law here inthe state of Texas, but 35 other
states in the United Stateshave Aaron's law, which is a
very similar law.
Okay, so there's a good chanceright that your state falls
under Aaron's law which says,hey, we require all public
schools to give this curriculumRight, and so that would kind of
give you again a foothold tostart that conversation with
(22:56):
your ISD.
I know New York has a Senatebill, oregon has a Senate bill,
oregon has a Senate bill thatrequires those things.
So if it's not Jenna's law, ifit's not Aaron's law, it could
be a Senate bill.
So start just trying to figureout if there is a law in place.
I would say the majority ofstates in the United States have
a law in place.
Once you figure out what that is, go to your ISD and just say
(23:18):
hey, I'm curious what we'redoing to fulfill this, to
fulfill Aaron's law, to fulfillSenate bill, whatever.
What curriculum are we teachingour kids?
I don't know that they have tohave a shack committee, right.
I don't.
I'm not super.
I know Texas Education Code.
We have shack committees arerequired.
(23:39):
They may call it something else.
You can look into your gov,kind of, and see what your
education code says.
But I think you can start theconversation simply by saying I
know Aaron's law or I know thisSenate bill says that this is
supposed to be provided to allpublic school students.
What are we doing to meet thatlaw in this ISD, if you're not
(24:02):
aware?
And that should start theconversation.
And you could even say I'veheard of student or school
health advisory councils.
Do we have anything like thathere?
Kind of starting thoseconversations, I think is just
the easiest way to do it andthat and they'll get you to the
(24:23):
right person.
There's going to be someonethat's over health curriculum
for an ISD, right, just likethere's somebody who's over
English curriculum and mathcurriculum and things like that.
And then you just kind of gofrom there and decide is this
something they're already doing?
Your state may not be an opt-instate right.
So they may.
You may not even realize thatthey're already doing that, and
(24:44):
they just aren't required tosend the permission slip home,
right?
Well and that's a question thatyou need to know as a parent.
If that's what I, that's kind ofwhat that, if you're, if you
don't know, I would ask becauseit could be that they're already
doing it and they don't have tosend the permission slip home
to do that.
So it's worth asking kind of onall fronts for all that
(25:08):
information.
What is the curriculum?
If they aren't doing it?
What can we do to get that inplace?
If they are doing it, have youbeen notified?
Did you even know?
You know that was happening.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
So I think that's great because and again I want
to reiterate, this is not anaccusatory.
This is not assuming the schoolis doing anything wrong.
That's not what we're saying.
We just want you to know whatyour kid is being taught so you
can have the conversations athome, fill in the gaps or
whatever else, and that you justneed to know that.
(25:42):
You need to know what is beingtaught to your children and
being involved in theireducation.
One other question for you,ashton how have you liked
serving on this committee?
Speaker 2 (25:54):
On the shack.
So I've enjoyed it for a coupleof reasons.
One, it makes me feel like anactive participant right, and
just like what my kids are beingeducated about when it comes to
those important kind of hottopics sometimes.
But also I didn't realize I meanwe kind of like get to hear
(26:16):
from the head of like nutritionbecause that falls under the
health umbrella, so we getupdates like from the head of
nutrition for our ISD and wetalk about things that I didn't
even realize.
You know the school nursedoesn't update and we just all
of our schools got EpiPens likein the nurse's office and that
was a big deal because we didn'thave that, and so it really
(26:39):
keeps me in the know about somany things and just meeting
kind of community members andother parents who are kind of
just concerned with the samethings and want to do good.
That's what I've loved so muchabout serving on the SHAC
committee in my personal role.
I'm on several SHAC committeesprofessionally, which is great
(27:02):
too.
It looks a little bit differentbut I have enjoyed like the
collaborative round table kindof feel that SHAC committees
have.
They're not super formal, theyreally are collaborative, just a
place for everybody to cometogether and make decisions on
what's best for kids just aplace for everybody to come
together and make decisions onwhat's best for kids.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
I love that.
I love that so much.
We need more parents beinginvolved in the public schools.
I mean they do so much for ourkids.
I mean so much and I think themore we can get involved and
help and be part of the process,I mean it truly takes all of us
.
Absolutely, I agree.
Well, thank you so much fordoing this show.
I think it was super helpful.
If we get any questions, I maybe sending them your way, if
that's okay.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Absolutely Always send them my way.
I'm so thankful to have beenhere and hope that this
information gives somebody outthere just a little bit of you
know what.
I'm going to take thisinformation and be proactive
with it, because we knowknowledge is power.
Sometimes we want to do better.
We just don't know how.
So maybe you, being a part ofyour local SHAC committee or
(28:09):
asking questions for your ISDnear you, can kind of help you
do that Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Thank you so much, ashton, full of great
information.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Bye.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Next Talk is a 501c3 nonprofit keeping kids safe
online.
To support our work, make adonation at nexttalkorg.
Next Talk resources are notintended to replace the advice
of a trained healthcare or legalprofessional, or to diagnose,
treat or otherwise render expertadvice regarding any type of
medical, psychological, legal,financial or other problem.
You are advised to consult aqualified expert for your
(28:40):
personal treatment plan.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!