Desperate For Advice....Please

[doobydoo]

Hi There
My ds is 7 and has been at school since end of August in the Irish Republic.He could be going on school trips etc and i want to know how to explain to him about being careful and wary around adults in a way he can understand.
I feel very anxious about who would take him to the toilet on trips etc and i want to convey an awareness of appropriate/inappropriate adult/child behaviour to him but not sure how to and wondered what the rest of you do.
He was at school in the UK and i know laws and regulations aren't perfect but they do have guidelines and police checks for people working with children which they do not have here.
Swimming lessons with the school would have meant him going into a public changing room with one male adult parent supervising!I did say to his teacher that i was amazed at this and they are now going to have 2 male parents supervising..my sons age group will be in the irls changing area in a cubicle.I expect i sound neurotic but i would appreciate advice re explaining to ds.
Thanks in advance.

Your child is really unlikely to be at risk in a school environment, even without checks. The vast majority of child abuse happens inside extended families.

I don't think it's worth getting too detailed with him about these things, just making clear to him that his body is his, and that if he's uncomfortable about anything, he should talk to you about it, no matter what anyone else says.

Thanks for your reply nqc.I think that is a clear and simple way of putting it.

dooby think nqc has just about got it right. Don't have any better suggestions myself.. except try not to worry... I know it is awful thinking of our defenceless offspring out there in the big wide world... but, as I try to remind myself, the chances of anything happening far far smaller than our perception of the danger.