Executive producers Michael Solomon and Josh Franer have created an animated short film, “My Body Belongs to Me,” based on the children’s book of the same name by Jill Starishevsky. The sole intention of the film is to be a free and highly accessible educational tool for parents and educators. The film lives at its permanent home on YouTube, available for everyone to view and pass around. http://youtu.be/a-5mdt9YN6I
1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused by their 18th birthday. Given these staggering statistics, Solomon and Franer, a documentary filmmaker who directed the short, felt strongly that a film that speaks to young children about sexual abuse in a manner and with language that are completely relatable was long overdue.
“The numbers were so shocking, we felt that we had to do something,”says Solomon, who first became aware of this crisis when Starishevsky, a prosecutor of child sex crimes in the Bronx, spoke at his children’s elementary school. “We wanted to create a tool for adults who want to begin a conversation with children about sexual abuse, as well as those who may not have the fortitude to talk about it but understand the importance. Beyond starting this dialogue, we believe it’s equally important for children to understand that reporting abuse is both empowering and smart.”
Just like Starishevsky’s book, the 4-minute short presents serious information to children in a very understandable and non-threatening way. It was created to be accessible and appropriate for children as young as 3 years old. Narrated by a gender- and ethnically-neutral child (we’re using “he” below for simplicity), the film tells his account of being inappropriately touched by his uncle’s friend. The message of how important it is to tell someone is driven home when the child tells his parents what happened and is praised, with both words and affection, for his bravery. The last image shows the child in a superhero costume, standing up empowered and proud. He conveys that his parents believed him and were proud of him for speaking up. As a reward for his heroic actions, he gets to tell his class all that he’s learned.
Starishevsky sees the film as the ideal digital accompaniment to her book, one that will certainly spread more awareness of this important topic. “I’m thrilled that Michael and Josh turned my book into a short film,” says Starishevsky. “The accessibility of the medium will make it very easy for parents and educators to watch it with children and start a meaningful dialogue about sexual abuse.”
“My Body Belongs To Me” also serves as the young age-appropriate companion piece to a larger project Solomon and Franer are developing: a feature length documentary titled, “Culture of Silence,” (http://cultureofsilence.com/) scheduled to shoot later this year. “We’re producing ‘Culture of Silence’ because we want to heighten the awareness of child sexual abuse, and hopefully ignite a national conversation about its prevalence and devastating effects,” says Franer.
This past weekend, I was lucky enough to be able to get away with my lovely bride of 14 years to escape the chains of reality and instead to simply let go and have fun without the kids! I have to be honest and say that we have not been the best examples of balance when it comes to finding our own time as parents, so this was a lucky treat and after spending the time with her I have to say that it was something that we should have done a long time ago! We decided to spend our 14th anniversary in the town where we had our first trip as a couple some 16 years ago, the windy city, Chicago. I had had some 
As a father and a parent I have to say that sometimes it is so hard to manage everything and to be on top of everything when it comes to your kids and all of the daily activities and daily duties that need to be accomplished. What are the things that I know our family sometimes struggles with is meals, as now that J-Mom and I are both working it becomes more difficult to have a plan for meals and to know that we have all of the food ready to go in a timely manner daily.
time-honored tradition, handed down from generation to generation. In some cases, handed-down stories turn into beautifully written-down tales, decades later as in case of myLima Bear Stories*.
