Kidpower is pleased to be partnering with the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) to provide multiple resources on how to protect kids from sexual abuse and bullying in youth sports, as part of our One Million Safer Kids Campaign.
View and use two-part webinar series, “Child Abuse Prevention in Youth Sports,” below free as part of youth sports organization staff and parent education and orientation programs. Each one-hour webinar features Irene van der Zande, Kidpower’s founder and Executive Director; Jim Thompson, PCA founder and CEO; and Mike Town, a PCA workshop leader and retired trial judge; offering practical advice and tools to help coaches, youth leaders, and parents take charge of the safety of children in their care and take positive, effective action to prevent abuse and bullying.
Note: not appropriate viewing for children. You must have flash player installed to view.
Webinar I: Fighting Child Abuse in Youth Sports – Focus on Coaches and Youth Leaders (Feb. 2, 2012).
View the webinar above or download a PDF version. Viewers will learn about:
- Why should coaches and youth sports leaders address this problem if they aren’t the ones abusing anyone?
- What to tell kids to help protect them from abuse
- 6 steps to take if a child mentions being abused or another child being abused
- Taking a stand as a team to prevent bullying, abuse and other violence
- 6 ways to avoid being falsely accused of abuse
- How to use Kidpower’s personal boundary rules for touch, teasing and games with your team(s)
- How to use PCA’s new template for YSO Child Abuse Prevent policies and & procedures
Webinar II: Fighting Child Abuse in Youth Sports – Focus on Parents (Feb. 9, 2012).
View the webinar above or download a PDF version. Viewers will learn about:
- What can parents do to watch out for and recognize possible signs of abuse?
- Understanding the benefits and limits of background checks to keep unsafe people out of youth sports
- 4 Strategies for parents to help keep kids safe from abuse when participating in youth sports
- Skills parents can teach kids to help protect them from abuse while they are participating in youth sports
- Kidpower’s positive practice method™ for practicing safety skills in a way that’s fun – not scary
- Q&A: What should I do if a child says something that makes me worried about possible abuse?
- How to encourage your child’s sports organization to adopt safety policies and procedures (PCA & Kidpower’s new template)
- What respectful leadership looks like and how to encourage your child’s coach in creating a safe environment
Why we created this Webinar Series:
We’ve heard over and over about times when good people failed to protect the children in their care from abuse and bullying because they didn’t know what to do, they didn’t want to embarrass anyone, or they trusted someone they shouldn’t have. The news stories surrounding scandals involving Penn State and others also highlight how important it is that institutions have structures in place for preventing and addressing abuse and for ensuring that everyone understands and can follow them.
Kidpower responded by partnering with PCA as part of our One Million Safer Kids campaign to educate and support a vital group of caring adults, who are committed to building character through youth sports, in the prevention of child abuse and bullying. We hope that the coaches, youth leaders, and parents we can reach through our partnership with PCA will have a strong ripple effect to helping make kids safer.
More Resources in Partnership with PCA:
Kidpower’s library of articles, podcasts, videos, publications and other resources for preventing child abuse: http://www.kidpower.
Kidpower also worked with the PCA to develop these templates and resource pages about preventing child abuse in youth sports:
For YSO’s: Child-Abuse Prevention Policies and Procedures Template
For Parents: http://www.positivecoach.org/
About the Author
Kidpower Teenpower Fullpower International Founder and Executive Director Irene van der Zande has been featured as a child protection and personal safety expert by USA Today, CNN, Today Moms, and The Wall Street Journal. She is the author of Bullying: What Adults Need to Know and Do to Keep Kids Safe, the Kidpower Safety Comics series, the Relationship Safety Skills Handbook for Teens and Adults, and The Kidpower Book for Caring Adults: Personal Safety, Self-Protection, Confidence, and Advocacy for Young People. Kidpower is a global nonprofit leader established in 1989 that has protected over two million people of all ages and abilities from bullying, sexual abuse, abduction, and other violence through workshops, consultation, and educational resources.