The Japan Times - 'Hands off': Teddy bear tale teaches French preschoolers consent

"Hands off kitty, they're my private parts," the teddy sings to the duck -- and to children aged three to five sitting on mats and benches at a Paris kindergarten during the Easter holidays.

"Hands off kitty, you need to respect them."

By the time the play finishes, several kids are chanting its catchy chorus to themselves as they put their coats back on.

Parents in the French capital have been especially concerned about how to protect their children, after dozens of school aides -- non-teaching staff who look after children during recess -- were suspended over the past year for allegedly sexually abusing pupils, some as young as three.

Langlais Vignon, a mother of two children aged four and seven, says she may have part of the solution.

"Knowledge is power," said the actor, who explained her mother's clear education on consent helped her avoid a molesting adult as a girl.

"A child who knows their rights is less vulnerable."

Her fluffy toy show titled "Pas touche minouche" ("Hands off kitty") is just one of several private initiatives in France to help educate young children about consent.

An estimated 160,000 children suffer rape or sexual assault each year in France, overwhelmingly from men, according to an independent commission called CIVIISE.

Three pupils in each classroom, on average, are estimated to be or have been victims.

- 'Superpower of saying no' -

In eight out of ten cases, the abuser is a family member, according to a CIVIISE report from 2023.

But in around one out of ten cases, they are someone in an institutional setting, such as a member of the clergy or teaching staff.

In her performance, Langlais Vignon recounts three such scenarios in which her furry characters deploy what she calls their "superpower of saying no".

Afterwards, she asks her young audience to repeat the stories back to her.

Can the lion cub's uncle ask him to keep a secret that makes him feel sad?

"Forbidden," the children cry in unison.

Who is a kind adult you can ask for help?

"Mummy," chirps one child. "Daddy", "Grandma", "Aunty", reply others. One little boy suggests his dog.

Paris' new mayor Emmanuel Gregoire, a Socialist who says he suffered sexual abuse himself during an after-school swimming programme in primary, has pledged to stamp out such violence in schools.

The city has suspended 31 school supervisors suspected of sexual abuse in the first three months of this year alone, he has said.

He has vowed better vetting of people who apply to be monitors, and launched new training for recruits, including on how to signal suspected violence against a child.

Auxiliary staff have demanded better staffing to ensure an adult is never left alone with a child, more recognition, and higher pay.

- Accept rejection -

Rushing out of the play to another morning meeting, the mayor of Paris' 11th district David Belliard was impressed.

"There's always some giggling when you talk about a fanny, a bottom or private parts, but the messages get through," said the member of the Greens party, after several cases of alleged abuse in his arrondissement.

"I had parents in my office just yesterday telling me about the show, saying it was very positive."

French law has since 2001 required all schools to provide some form of education on consent at least three times a year, but there was no sex ed programme to teach it until February 2025.

An administrative court last year sentenced the state to pay one symbolic euro for taking so long.

The new guide recommends teaching children under the age of four about intimacy, but also to express consent or refusal in a relationship, as well as to respect someone's choice to reject them.

Langlais Vignon is hoping more public schools will award her contracts to perform during the school term, when all children are present.

But she has already notched up some wins.

A friend last year sent the actor a message after taking her three-year-old son to a new doctor.

Without asking permission, "the doctor looked inside his underwear so she could see if he had spots on his private parts," wrote Audrey Guerrouani, 46.

He immediately started singing, "Hey, hands off kitty".

"I was so proud of him," the mother said.

S.Ogawa--JT