Bill > AR174

Introduced Session

This resolution urges the American Academy of Pediatrics and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics to issue guidance for pediatricians and family doctors on discussing personal space and privacy with children. Child sexual abuse is a common adverse childhood experience affecting one in four girls and one in eight boys. Children who experience sexual abuse may develop serious lifelong physical and mental health consequences. Pediatricians can provide anticipatory guidance to children regarding personal space and privacy over the course of a child's life, in developmentally appropriate ways, to increase a child's knowledge of appropriate and inappropriate touching, and to teach a child how to respond to inappropriate touching. Currently, there are insufficient resources for pediatricians and family doctors to utilize in providing children and parents anticipatory guidance on personal space and privacy for children, which reduces the potential for this dialogue to occur. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics is urged to develop materials and issue guidance to assist pediatricians and family doctors in providing children and parents anticipatory guidance on personal space and privacy for children, in order to potentially either reduce the incidence of child sexual abuse or prevent the increase of such abuse.

Committee Categories

Nancy Muñoz (R)*,  Carol Murphy (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Women and Children Committee (on 02/06/2023)

Official Document