Every back-to-school season asks families and educators to prepare. We organize classrooms, review policies, complete training, buy supplies and build schedules. Yet one of the most important preparations is too often left off the list: making sure children have the language, confidence and trusted relationships they need to speak about body safety.

On Thursday, August 20, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Bloom Safe: Make America The Safest Place To Be A Kid and The Mama Bear Effect will host the free virtual Back to School Children’s Book Author Panel. The one-hour Zoom event is open to everyone, with a special focus on parents, teachers, educators, school staff, administrators and other adults who care for children. Advance registration is required.

Five authors, five perspectives, one shared purpose

The panel will bring together children's book authors whose work is based on lived experience, training, and study and reaches families, classrooms, child advocacy programs and prevention organizations across the country:

• Adrianne Simeone: founder of The Mama Bear Effect; author of My Body is Special and Private, Mi Cuerpo es Especial y Privado and Let’s Talk About Secrets. Instagram: @adrianne_simeone
• Diane Tarantini: public-school body-safety educator and survivor of sibling sexual trauma and abuse; author of The Brave Knight. Instagram: @writingdianet
• Kimberly King: best-selling author and nationally recognized body-safety educator; author of I Said No!, Body Safety for Young Children and I Said NO! to Hugs. Instagram: @toughtopicsmom
• Patrice Griffin: founder of Patrice’s Kids Inc. and child-safety advocate; author of My Body Safety Coloring Book. Instagram: @patriceskids
• Steve Simons: founder of Bloom Safe; author of My Body Is for Myself. Instagram: @realstevesimons and @mybodyisformyself

Donna Bulatowicz, Ph.D., an educator, researcher and survivor whose Safer Schools work addresses educator sexual misconduct, will moderate the discussion. Natalie Moon, research specialist and partnerships coordinator for The Mama Bear Effect, will facilitate the event and manage audience questions.

Why this conversation is urgent

On July 10, 2026, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda E. McMahon issued a Dear Colleague Letter on protecting students from sexual misconduct by adults in positions of authority. The letter reiterates that educational institutions receiving federal funding must comply with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Title IX. It advises institutions to ensure their policies and practices comply with federal law, train officials who have authority to take corrective action, maintain meaningful grievance procedures, and meet state mandatory-reporting requirements.

Those obligations matter. Schools must have effective systems for recognizing, reporting, investigating and responding to sexual misconduct. They must also foster environments where students know that adults will listen and act when something is wrong.

The Department’s letter does not prescribe a body-safety curriculum, and a children’s book cannot replace protective policies, trained personnel, reporting duties or a legally compliant response. Books can, however, help adults begin prevention conversations before a child is in crisis. They can give children simple language for bodily autonomy, boundaries, consent, appropriate touch, grooming behaviors, secrets and trusted adults. They can also make it easier for children to ask questions and tell a safe adult when something feels confusing, uncomfortable or wrong.

From national policy to everyday practice

The Bloom Safe Act is working to establish a permanent, coordinated national public-health framework for preventing child sexual abuse. One of the initiative’s five pillars is evidence-based, age-appropriate PreK-12 prevention education. Another is effective training for the adults who work with and care for children.

National policy is essential, but prevention cannot wait for a bill to pass. It also happens in ordinary moments: when a parent reads with a child, when a teacher establishes clear boundaries, when a coach responds appropriately to a concern, or when a school leader equips staff to recognize and report warning signs. This panel is one practical step toward putting usable resources into the hands of safe adults now.

“This panel brings together some of the leading body-safety voices in America to share their prevention journeys and show how children’s books can help safe adults begin some of the most important conversations they will ever have with a child,” said Steve Simons, founder of Bloom Safe. “We can do better to protect the next generation than previous generations did. This should be the generation that makes a meaningful impact toward ending child sexual abuse once and for all.”

What participants can expect

Panelists will discuss why they entered child sexual abuse prevention work, how their books approach difficult topics in age-appropriate ways, and how parents and educators can use stories to open conversations without creating fear or shame. The live program will also include time for audience questions.

The need is substantial. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that at least one in four girls and one in twenty boys in the United States experience child sexual abuse. The CDC also emphasizes that prevention is possible and that adults are responsible for creating safe, stable and nurturing relationships and environments.

A book alone cannot carry that responsibility. An informed, attentive and prepared adult can use the right book to begin a conversation that continues throughout childhood.

Register & Invite other safe adults

The Back to School Children’s Book Author Panel will take place live on Zoom on Thursday, August 20, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The event is free and open to all, but advance registration is required. 

You can register prior to the event at tinyurl.com/BloomSafe to receive the meeting link.

And finally, please invite the parents, teachers, school staff, administrators, coaches, faith leaders and other safe adults in your life to attend as well and follow @bloom_safe and @mamabeareffect on Instagram, and view the event post for additional information.

Prevention is possible. It begins when safe adults are willing to learn, speak and act.