*By Chloe Aiello* After the gymnastics world was rocked by a major sex abuse scandal, the sport's most decorated Olympic athlete says education for child athletes can protect them from similar abuse in the future. The Magnificent Seven's Shannon Miller said fear of abuse should never prevent young athletes from pursuing their sport. "My philosophy is let's not keep children away from the incredible benefits of youth sports, let's educate them to protect themselves," she told Cheddar Thursday. The seven-time Olympic medalist and mother of two has been very vocal in the wake of the sex abuse scandals that have plagued USA Gymnastics. Miller [told Today](https://www.today.com/news/olympian-shannon-miller-larry-nassar-s-abuse-somebody-should-have-t121618) she had only limited interaction with Dr. Larry Nassar, the team doctor sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing his young female patients, but she is passionate about preventing future abuse ー and in her view, that starts with education. "One of the statistics that I keep coming back to ー I actually have a post-it in my office ー 95 percent of child abuse can be prevented through education. And for me, that was it. I was all in," Miller said. She joined the board of the Monique Burr Foundation for Children and along with ex-WNBA president Donna Orender, helped the organization develop an athlete-specific abuse prevention curriculum. Miller said it primarily focuses on educating children about how to keep themselves safe by being alert and communicating with "safe adults." The [MBF Athlete Safety Matters program](https://www.mbfpreventioneducation.org/why-use-our-programs/mbf-athlete-safety-matters/) teaches five safety rules ー know what's up; spot red flags; make a move; talk it up; no blame, no shame ー in age-appropriate ways. Of course, parents also have a role to play. If they pull their children from sports, she said, they'll be depriving them of important lessons ー not only in movement, but in perseverance, teamwork, and "learning to get up after a fall." Instead of withdrawing their children from activities, Miller said parents should be vigilant and communicate with their children in order to keep them safe. "I think what parents can do now is really talk, look, listen, get to know your coaches, really communicate with your kids and make sure you know what's going on," she said. "As parents we can't be with them 24/7, so we have to make sure those lines of communication are open and they feel comfortable talking to us." As for USA Gymnastics, Miller said she's not certain what will become of the organization. Under the financial pressure of lawsuits related to Nassar's case, the organization [filed for bankruptcy](https://usagym.org/pages/post.html?PostID=23016) in early December. For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/seven-time-olympic-medalist-shannon-miller-combats-abuse-in-youth-sports).
