School: Minister Destiny Testimony Schools Track: Youth Class: Topic Library — Year 1 (Foundations) Presented by: Minister Destiny Marie Morgan, Muslim Ordained Minister
This lesson is educational information and is not legal advice. Laws vary by state. If you are in danger right now, call 911.
Before you start
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- We never ask your name. Not here, not on the test, not on the certificate. If you earn a certificate, you download it first and write your own name on it after.
- Pass the test at 80% or higher to earn this unit's certificate. You can retake the test as many times as you need — each retake presents the questions in a different order, with the answer choices in a different order too. Answers are not shown — go back, find what you missed in the lesson, and learn it for real.
- If you are in danger right now: call 911. If you cannot talk out loud, text HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line) or call or text 988 any time, day or night.
- This lesson talks about harm in plain, careful words. Nothing graphic. The most important sentence in it: if someone harms you, it is not your fault — not ever, not for any reason.
The lesson
Part 1. What Abuse Means in Plain Words
Abuse means someone harms you, frightens you on purpose as a pattern, ignores the care you need, or uses you — and it is wrong every time, even if the person is an adult, even if they are family, and even if they say you caused it.
Adults are supposed to keep kids safe. Most adults do. But some adults — and sometimes older kids — break that rule. Learning the names for kinds of harm helps you understand your feelings and tell another adult clearly what is happening.
You do not need proof to tell, or the right legal words. Describe what happens, in your own words, to a trusted adult. Their job is to listen, believe you, and act. Your job is only to tell — and keep telling until someone helps.
Part 2. Different Kinds of Harm
Physical harm is when someone hurts your body — hitting, shaking, or punishing in a way that causes pain, marks, or injury. There is a careful difference between discipline and harm: discipline is meant to teach and keep a child safe, and it never leaves a child injured or terrified. If you are being hurt or are afraid of being hurt at home, that is harm — and it is okay to tell, even if you are not sure which side of the line it falls on. Deciding that is an adult's job, not yours.
Emotional harm is a pattern of words and actions meant to make you feel worthless or afraid: constant insults, threats, and being blamed for everything. One argument is not the same thing. A home where you are afraid all the time is not okay.
Neglect is when adults responsible for you do not provide what you need — food, a safe place to sleep, care when you are sick, supervision that fits your age — for a long time, not just one hard day.
Sexual harm is any sexual touching, or being shown or asked for sexual pictures, by anyone. A child can never agree to this, it is always the other person's fault, and you should tell a trusted adult right away.
If any of this sounds familiar, Part 4 is the part that matters most.
Part 3. Feelings, Secrets, and Why Telling Can Feel Hard
Kids who are harmed often feel mixed up. You might love the person and hate what they do. You might feel scared, angry, numb, or guilty. All of those feelings are normal. None of them mean the harm is your fault.
People who harm kids often protect themselves with secrets: "This is our secret." "No one will believe you." "You will break up the family." Hear this plainly: a secret about harm is never a secret you have to keep. Safe secrets are things like a surprise party — they are happy, and they end. A secret that makes you feel bad or scared is a secret to tell.
Telling can feel hard, or the first person may not listen. That is not the end — tell the next trusted adult. Counselors, teachers, nurses, coaches, a friend's parent, a relative — keep going until one adult acts. Hotline helpers at Childhelp (1-800-422-4453) also listen to kids about exactly this.
Part 4. Trusted Adults and Telling Until You Are Believed
A trusted adult listens to you, believes you, keeps you safe, and does not ask you to keep secrets about harm. Build your list before you need it — at least three names, including one outside your family and one at school.
When you tell, use plain words: what happens, who does it, and how it makes you feel. If talking out loud is too hard, write it down and hand it over. That counts as telling.
What should happen next: the adult listens, thanks you for telling, and contacts people whose job is protecting kids. You might be asked to tell your story more than once. That is not because you are not believed — it is how helpers each do their part. You will not have to face the person who harmed you. That is never a child's job.
If you are afraid to go home today, say that sentence exactly: "I am afraid to go home today." If you are in immediate danger, call 911. If you cannot talk out loud safely, text HOME to 741741, or call or text 988.
Part 5. Staying Safer and Getting Help
You are not responsible for stopping abuse. That is an adult job, always. But there are things that help you stay safer while adults do their part.
Know your safe places: a neighbor's home, a relative's home, school, a library. Know how you would get there. If someone at home checks your phone, use a device they cannot check — a school or library device — for help lines.
Being harmed can affect sleep, school, appetite, and mood — that is your body reacting to something hard, not something wrong with you. Talking with a counselor, resting, and being with safe friends are real parts of healing. Childhelp at 1-800-422-4453 and 988 (call or text) are there day and night.
If a friend tells you they are being harmed: believe them, do not promise to keep it secret, and tell a trusted adult with them or for them. That is not betraying a friend. That is rescuing one.
Words to know — Abuse
- Abuse — when someone harms you, frightens you as a pattern, ignores care you need, or uses you; it is never the child's fault.
- Neglect — when adults responsible for you do not provide needed food, shelter, care, or supervision over time.
- Trusted adult — an adult who listens, believes you, keeps you safe, and never asks you to keep secrets about harm.
- Disclosure — telling someone that harm has happened to you, in your own words.
- Secret about harm — a secret someone makes you keep about being hurt or frightened; you never have to keep this kind of secret.
- Physical harm — someone hurting your body, causing pain, marks, or injury.
- Emotional harm — a pattern of insults, threats, and fear meant to make you feel worthless or unsafe.
- Safe place — somewhere you can go when home feels frightening, with adults you trust.
Myths vs facts — Abuse
- Myth: If I tell, I will be the one in trouble. Fact: Telling about harm is never wrong. The trouble belongs to the person causing harm.
- Myth: It only counts if it happens many times. Fact: One serious act of harm counts. A pattern counts too.
- Myth: If the person says sorry, I have to keep it secret. Fact: An apology creates no secrecy rule. You can always tell a trusted adult.
- Myth: Adults can always tell when a kid is being harmed. Fact: Often they cannot — which is why telling matters, and why you may need to tell more than one adult.
- Myth: If I love the person, it cannot be abuse. Fact: Loving someone and being harmed by them can both be true, and telling is still right.
Think it through — Abuse
Jordan, 12, dreads evenings. His stepfather shouts insults at him most nights, has shoved him hard enough to leave a bruise twice, and told him, "If you tell your mom, you'll be the reason this family breaks." He asks his school counselor: "Is it even abuse if it's mostly yelling?"
Walk it through: (1) Part 2: the pattern includes emotional harm — nightly insults and fear — plus physical harm. Either kind counts; together they are a clear pattern. (2) Part 3: "you'll break the family" is the classic secret-protection line. A secret about harm is never Jordan's to keep, and a child does not break a family by telling the truth — harm does. (3) Jordan already did Part 4's hardest step: he told a trusted adult, whose job is to listen, believe him, and contact the people who protect kids. His own words are enough. (4) His love for his mom is not a reason for silence. Telling is how help reaches the family.
Try this — Abuse
- ☐ I can name at least three trusted adults, including one outside my family and one at school.
- ☐ I have thought of my safe places — where I could go if home felt frightening — and how I would get there.
- ☐ I know the difference between a happy secret (like a surprise) and a secret about harm, which I never have to keep.
- ☐ I have saved these in a place I can reach: 911, 988 (call or text), Crisis Text Line — text HOME to 741741, Childhelp 1-800-422-4453.
- ☐ I have practiced my telling sentence: "I need to tell you something that is happening, and I need you to listen and help."
- ☐ If a friend told me about harm, I know my steps: believe them, do not promise secrecy, tell a trusted adult.
Resources to keep — Abuse
- 911 — if you are in danger right now.
- Childhelp — 1-800-422-4453 — adults whose job is listening to kids about harm and helping them get protection.
- 988 (call or text) — support any time, day or night, for you or for a friend.
- Crisis Text Line — text HOME to 741741 — help by text when talking out loud is not safe or not possible.
- RAINN — 1-800-656-4673 — confidential help if sexual harm has happened.
What you earned / what's next — Abuse
✅ Topic Library — Abuse complete (test score 80% or higher): You can name the kinds of harm in plain words, tell discipline from harm at a general level, explain why secrets about harm never have to be kept, and use your trusted-adult list — telling, and keeping telling, until you are believed.
Your certificate
Minister Destiny Testimony Schools Certificate of Completion — Topic Library: Abuse
This certificate is presented by Muslim Ordained Minister Destiny Marie Morgan
Awarded to: ______________________________ (write your name here after you download — your name is never collected or stored by this school)
Date completed: ______________
Congratulations. You learned the names for kinds of harm and the strongest move there is: telling a trusted adult, and keeping telling until you are believed. That is courage. — Minister Destiny Marie Morgan
This is a certificate of educational completion from Minister Destiny Testimony Schools. It is not a state license, a government certification, or legal training for representing anyone.
What's next: Topic Library — Domestic Violence: when adults at home fight and frighten each other, and why stopping it is never a child's job.
Sources
- Childhelp — National Child Abuse Hotline public guidance on recognizing abuse and getting help
- mass.gov — Massachusetts Department of Children and Families public information on reporting child abuse and neglect
Minister Destiny Testimony Schools — Youth. Educational information only, not legal advice. Help lines: 911 in an emergency · 988 (call/text) · Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741) · Childhelp 1-800-422-4453.