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Personal Safety, Self-Defense, Self-Protection,
Boundaries, Advocacy, and Other People Safety Issues
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"People Safety" Issues and Skills for Children and Youth [show/hide topics]
– what adults need to know and to do to protect the emotional and physical safety of their children.
"People Safety" Issues and Skills for Teens and Adults [show/hide topics]
– how to take charge of your safety and advocate for the safety of others.
Protecting Children With Disabilities and People of All Ages with Special Needs From Bullying, Abuse, and Other Violence
– tools for learning and teaching emotional and physical safety skills and concepts for all ages and abilities
Response to Frightening News Events
- articles about how to address concerns for our children and ourselves
in response to upsetting
and tragic stories.
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"People Safety" Issues and Skills for Children and Youth
Adult Leadership to Keep Kids Safe
What Adults Need to Know About Personal Safety for ChildrenFacts about violence against children, "Stranger Danger," bullying, and attempted abductions. What you can do to help children keep themselves safe. More >
Create Emotional Safety: Be a Powerful, Positive Adult LeaderFacts about violence against children, "Stranger Danger," bullying, and attempted abductions. What you can do to help children keep themselves safe. More >
Kidpower Safety Tips: Gun Violence at SchoolFacts about violence against children, "Stranger Danger," bullying, and attempted abductions. What you can do to help children keep themselves safe. More >
Resisting the "Illusion of Safety"The Illusion of Safety happens in settings or situations where people feel so relaxed, sheltered, or distracted that they stop focusing on ensuring that their children have adequate supervision, understanding, and skills to avoid potential dangers. More >
How to Intervene: The Safety of Kids Is Everybody's BusinessTo intervene successfully and safely in order to promote personal safety for children, we first need to notice what is happening and try to have compassion for the adult as well as for the child. Here is information on how you can intervene effectively for a child's safety. More >
Men as Allies to Children:
Making Relationships Work Safely and Well for EveryoneMost children have far more opportunities to interact with women than with men. This is a great pity, because both boys and girls often long for opportunities to do things with men as well as women.eight Here are eight concerns we often hear from caring men about their interactions with children. More >
Stopping Emotional Pollution for Children: Seven Practices from KidpowerUnkind remarks are like emotional pollution. They don’t usually cause people to get visibly injured right away, but they diminish the quality of life and can be damaging to health and well-being over time. More >
Kidpower: An Educator's Perspective
(by Peter Lewis, Ph.D.) Schools must prioritize the adoption of Kidpower programs for their students so that the dangers of society do not remain a secret at school but are brought out into the open beyond the scope of CNN and newspaper accounts of the horrible occurrences involving children. More >
What Is People Safety?In Kidpower, we use the term “People Safety” to mean what individuals can do to keep themselves and others emotionally and physically safe. In other words, people being safe with people. More >
Helping Children Regain Their Emotional Safety After a TragedyWhen tragedy strikes, the results are traumatic both for those directly affected and for the community of people who know them or identify with them. Although we cannot control the fact that a tragedy has taken place, adults can do a great deal to help children regain their sense of emotional safety. More >
Worthy of Trust - What Organizations Need to Do to Protect Children From HarmTo be worthy of trust, individuals need to know how to take charge of the safety of the young people in their care. This is true of organizations as well. Unfortunately, as ongoing news stories make compellingly clear, even very prominent institutions can have difficulty seeing and stopping abuse, bullying, harassment, and other dangerous behavior. More >
Kidpower Skills for Health Care Providers
(by Abby Bleistein, M.D.) Safety is a predominant health concern for children through young adulthood, and the primary care provider has a great opportunity to impact the health of children by providing education and skills for them to practice and use. More >
Kidpower Skills for Health Care Providers
(by Abby Bleistein, M.D.) Safety is a predominant health concern for children through young adulthood, and the primary care provider has a great opportunity to impact the health of children by providing education and skills for them to practice and use. More >
Teaching Children How to Get Help - Seven Steps from KidpowerEverywhere they go, as soon as they can understand, children are safest if they know how to find trustworthy adults who they can go to and ask for help when they have a safety problem. More >
My Child Got Sick Because She Didn’t Know What to DoNot knowing when and how to break the rules can be dangerous for a child. Most children are very literal and many really want to please the adults in charge by following the rules, especially away from home. Even when kids are taught that their safety comes first, acting in the moment can be very hard to do, as this story from the mother of a second-grader in Vermont shows. More >
Balancing Independence With Safety: Kidpower Response to Free Range KidsFree Range Kids makes some good points and is interesting reading. I agree that children need the freedom to try things out on their own even if they might make mistakes or get hurt. More >
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Starting Early: “People Safety” for Very Young Children
Kidpower Answers for Parents with Small ChildrenAs babies, toddlers, and preschoolers start to become more independent and move on their own out in the world, parents often have many questions about how to support their children in being safe as they start to meet new people and interact with other children and adults. More >
Making a Safety Plan for Bathroom AccidentsDealing with the embarrassment of having a bathroom accident can make people miserable and even cause them to take actions that might put them into danger. Here are tips for making safety plans to deal with bathroom accidents. More >
People Safety For ToddlersThere is no substitute for constant supervision. Young children do not have the understanding or the skills to stay away from danger – whether this is an animal, a cliff, a piece of glass, an electric outlet, a car, or a person who might be unsafe. More >
Not Even for a Second! A Story About Kidpower's Underlying PrincipleThis is a story about how Kidpower skills and principles were very helpful to me personally when I saw an unprotected small child in an unsafe place. More >
Free Download! Kidpower Coloring Books in English and SpanishPrint copies of this coloring book for the kids in your life! Contains 12 pages of black-and-white cartoons explaining our basic "People Safety" skills. Great for classrooms, party favors, or car rides. PDF document
“But WHY is this the Safety Rule?” - Kidpower Answers for Adults with Younger ChildrenAnyone who spends much time with young children knows that the question “Why?” comes up constantly– whether the question is why rabbits can’t fly, or why can’t I stand on the table in the middle of dinner or why can’t I show someone my penis or vagina if I feel like it or why do I have to ask my grownups first before I can talk to strangers? More >
Choosing Safe People to Care for Your ChildrenChildren are not born knowing how to take care of themselves. If they are not adequately supervised by responsible people making safe choices, children sometimes bully others or get bullied... More >
Everyday Safety Plans and Skills for Children of All Abilities
How to Practice Kidpower Every Day (formerly Homework)Information on how you can learn more about Kidpower; how to take charge of safety; how to make and practice safety plans for everywhere you and your children go; how to set clear boundaries. More >
Starting School: The Kidpower Way Getting off to a poor start at the beginning of the school year can be like starting to twist on a jar lid the wrong way– it’s usually fixable, but takes some effort to get unstuck and start over. At worst, an unhappy beginning to a school year can be very upsetting for everyone. More >
Safety Plans For Families with Special NeedsThe Kidpower approach focuses on what each person can do rather than on what they cannot and emphasizes making safety plans in order to prevent problems. These safety plans must be based on a realistic assessment of the needs and abilities of each member of a family or group. More >
Teaching Children Persistence To Build Their People Safety SkillsAlthough in Kidpower we know how to make learning People Safety skills easy for children, actually using these skills out in the real world is often frustrating and difficult. Here is information on how you can encourage your child to persist. More >
Teaching Children the Skill of ConfidenceThe reality is that confidence can be many things – a feeling, an attitude, a belief, a decision, and a set of skills that can be learned. More >
How to Tell When a Child Is Ready for More Freedom or New PrivilegesChildren’s personal safety involves a delicate balance between adult supervision and children’s independence. Evry child is different; here are some tips for how to know when your child is ready. More >
Internet Safety Children and youth can be exposed to pornography, solicited, and seduced by molesters pretending to be friends, bullied by other youth, and tricked into putting private information into a public arena where it might be misused online. Here is some information to help keep your kids safe. More >
What If I Get Lost? - Kidpower Skills to Prepare Children to Get HelpVisiting new places and doing new things can be great fun, but children need to know how to get help everywhere they go in case they get lost. More >
Kidpower Child Safety Tips for ParentsAs part of our Bridges to People Safety Initiative, we have created the Kidpower Safety Signs to help teachers, family members, and other caregivers teach “People Safety” skills and concepts to individuals with very limited or no speech.
Safety with AnimalsAnimals are important beings in their own right, with each species having its unique characteristics. Some children are afraid of animals because they are different. Others can get so excited that they might do things that could harm an animal or cause the animal to harm them.
Bullying Prevention
Bullying - Common Questions and Answers From KidpowerThe most common definition of bullying is, "a repeated oppression, psychological or physical, of a less powerful person by a more powerful person or group of persons." Bullying is different from aggression between people of equal power. More >
Addressing Cyber-BullyingDiscuss the issue; be clear about the rules. Get involved with your kids to make sure they know cyber-bullying is wrong. Here are tips for helping your child deal with cyber-bullying. More >
Bullying: What Do Kids Say? Sometimes we ask children during a workshop, “What’s bullying?” Hands shoot into the air and the answers pour out of our students. Because adults have more official words for the same behavior, I have put these in parentheses next to the explanations of our Kidpower experts. More >
Bullying in Schools: Seven Kidpower Solutions for ParentsAs parents, we expect schools to provide an environment that is emotionally and physically safe for our children. It’s normal to feel terrified and enraged about any kind of threat to our children’s well being, especially in a place where they have to be. More >
Bullying, Violence, and Abuse Prevention in Schools:
Recommended Actions and PoliciesBullying in schools is a problem that can grow without adult attention and proactive guidance. Here are tips to create a safer school community. More >
Face Bullying With Confidence: 8 Kidpower Skills Kids Can Use Right Away Bullying prevention skills are best learned through hands-on practice. The Kidpower approach is to use People Safety skills to help our students rehearse how to handle different problems such as bullying. More >
Reader's Question: Let Them Work It Out? Reader’s Question: Other parents in my family say that I should not get involved when our children have problems, because they believe that kids should be left to just work it out on their own. What do you think? More >
Speaking Up About Putdowns When someone is saying something that is hurtful or rude, speaking up takes courage. Speaking up takes the skills of knowing the words to say and how to deal with negative reactions. Finally, speaking up takes wisdom, because there are times when speaking up is a mistake. More >
What If My Child Is Bullying? Bullying in schools, families, and other groups affects the physical and emotional safety of everyone in the group. Adults can help children stay safe by teaching children skills to deal with bullying. In addition, children using bullying behavior need support in learning different ways of interacting with other children. More >
Bullying in Sports: People Safety For Children's CoachesAt a recent parent-child workshop, a very kind father called Ron said, “We need this kind of training for coaches too! Sometimes the kids’ parents will start screaming insults and threats at our coaches because they disagree with some decision. Even if they’ve signed pledges not to, some parents believe that acting this way and booing players is part of sports. What should we do?” More >
Acting Friendly or Truly Being Your Friend? - How to Tell the DifferenceWe hear many sad stories about young people who were confused by others who pretended to be friendly in order to get their way, but whose actual intent was to get something from them or even to cause them harm. More >
Shunning and Exclusion - Kidpower Skills for Protecting Children From Relational Bullying Martha was the bane of my childhood. From the time I was seven until I was ten, I’d go to school dreading recess. All the girls would run to play the wonderful games that Martha would lead. With all my heart, I wished we could be friends. More >
Kidpower Practices as a Management Tool for Unsafe, Disrespectful BehaviorWhen children say or do things that are hurtful, rude, destructive, or potentially dangerous, parents and teachers can find themselves trying to manage this behavior by explaining, scolding, discussing, and using rewards and punishments. More >
Bullying and Homophobia - Addressing Identity Based AttacksMany people are unsure how to deal with certain types of bullying in a setting where people in their school or organization disagree with the effects and causes. More >
Bullying Facts and SolutionsDespite all of the media attention that has been given to the sometimes tragic consequences of bullying, you only have to read the comments sections in online articles about bullying to realize how many adults remain in the dark without truly understanding the negative impact that bullying has on so many children every day. More >
Child Abuse Prevention
Kidpower Safety Tips: Protecting Children from Sexual AbuseChildren who can set clear strong boundaries and who know how to get help are less likely to be abused and more likely to be able stop someone from molesting them. Help children practice moving your hand away and saying, “Please stop.” Learning to set boundaries with simple safe touch such as to a shoulder or hand can prepare children to set boundaries with more dangerous kinds of touch. Have them practice interrupting a busy adult and saying, “I need help.” More >
What If a Sex Offender Is Living in Our Neighborhood?Sex offenders known to be living close to home can make safety concerns stronger. Many parents are frightened when they discover that registered sex offenders live in their community or their neighborhood, and they want to know how they can keep their children safe. More >
Touch in Healthy RelationshipsTo have healthy relationships, you need to have good boundaries. To have good boundaries, you need to have an understanding about what is safe and what is not safe both emotionally and physically and to have skills to communicate with others about your boundaries.
What if My Child Has Seen an Inappropriate Website?Reader’s Question: My five-year-old daughter was at a friend’s house and they accidentally saw a website that had inappropriate sexual content. What should we do? More >
Safe And Unsafe BribesA bribe is a like a trade, where someone offers to do something you want to get you to do something in return. Here is information on how to explain safe and unsafe bribes to your child. More >
What Kinds of Secrets Are Okay for Children to Keep –
And What Kinds Are Not? One of Kidpower’s boundary rules is that “Problems should not be secret!” To help prevent potential problems, we also tell children that, “Touch should not be a secret. And presents someone gives you or games someone asks you to play should not be a secret.” More >
Sometimes The People Kids Love Have Problems: What Children Do and Do NOT Need to KnowMost of the people who abuse children are people they know well. However, children will NOT be made safer by being given this potentially devastating message: “By the way, the person who will probably hurt you the most is someone you love and trust.” More >
Why Affection and Teasing Should Be a Child’s ChoiceIn a recent blog posting, Lenore Skenazy, author of the best-selling book Free Range Kids, challenged an article called “Child Predators Love Polite Kids” by Pattie Fitzgerald. Skenazy cites studies done by David Finkelhor, Ph.D., head of the Crimes Against Children Research Center, indicating a lack of correlation between children being forced to hug and kiss family members and their being abused. More >
Best Friends and Mistakes - A Teaching Story From KidpowerThe purpose of this teaching story is to help children integrate information about boundaries on touch and prepares them in case they forget like Penny did. It also reminds them that it is never too late to get help. More >
How Can I Avoid Being Accused of Abuse? Six Guidelines from KidpowerGrandparents, teachers, coaches, youth group leaders, health professionals, and other caring adults sometimes ask us, “How can I protect myself from a child getting upset with me and accusing me of abuse?” Kidpower offers guidelines on how to safety interact with children and teens while maintaining acceptable boundaries. More >
Three Strategies for Protecting Kids from Sexual PredatorsThe Penn State Football child abuse scandal in the US is a classic case of someone misusing his position of trust and power to abuse and coerce kids and of adults in responsible positions not taking action to stop him. Parents are left wondering, ““What do I need to look out for? How can I protect my kids? What can I teach them about protecting themselves?" More >
Kidnapping Prevention and Stranger Safety
Kidpower Safety Tips: Protecting Children from Abduction/KidnappingTo have healthy relationships, you need to have good boundaries. To have good boundaries, you need to have an understanding about what is safe and what is not safe both emotionally and physically and to have skills to communicate with others about your boundaries.
How to Pick a Good Self-Defense ProgramThe quality of the program and approach of the instructor will make a huge difference in the results of any kind of training. If training is about self-defense or any other important life skills, the potential benefits are real and so are the potential dangers. It is worth taking the time to make a thoughtful decision. More >
Teach Kids to Be Safe Without Making Them Scared:
Tips for Safety With Strangers and People Children KnowChildren’s personal safety skills, when supported, can help them stay safe with most people most of the time. You can teach children to be safe without scaring them - You just need to know how. More >
Teaching Stranger Safety: The Kidpower Way'Stranger danger’ is, unfortunately, a commonly used phrase. The phrase brings to mind worries we have about what strangers might do, and those worries can make it hard to remember what even very small children know, that a stranger is simply a person we don't know. More >
Strangers at School: Tools to Build Understanding
(by Erika Leonard, Manager of California Services) Adults and most children know that a stranger is "someone I don't know." However, we have a tendency to make assumptions about strangers, often unconsciously. A common assumption is that a stranger is likely to be 'dangerous' because of that person's gender, size, style and color of clothing and hair, or skin color. More >
Kidnapping - What We CAN DO to Keep Our Kids Safe!
A few simple skills can be all it takes to prevent an abduction or kidnapping. These easy to learn prevenative practices could save your child or a youth you care about. More >
Jaycee Dugard - What Might Have Helped to Protect Her?As parents and other caring adults, we all want to understand what might help to protect other children from the terrible kind of experiences that Jaycee Dugard went though. Break the Illusion of Safety and learn more about how to stop, recognize, and prevent kidnapping and adbuction attempts. More >
Just in Case: What Children Need to Know if They Cannot Get Away at FirstKidpower has helped many, many thousands of children to be safer, less fearful, and more confident. Here are seven ideas from Kidpower about how to give children tools that can help them “just in case” they cannot get away from someone acting scary. More >
Planning for Safety During Holidays, Vacations, and Special Events
Halloween Safety: The Kidpower WayFor families that celebrate Halloween, this is a special holiday, full of fun and adventure. Here are tips on making sure your family stays safe and has fun this Halloween. More >
Holiday Boundaries: Protecting Children’s Boundaries and Helping Others Do the Same For many of us, the holiday season rides in on a wave of touch and attention that takes a multitude of forms. You can help your children set clear boundaries around touch this holiday season with a few simple tips and practices. More >
How Can I Help my Child with Moving Anxiety?Moving anxiety is normal. Change can be scary and hard, and adults can help children by acknowledging this. A few simple steps can help children with the transitions that come with moving. More >
Resisting the "Illusion of Safety"The Illusion of Safety happens in settings or situations where people feel so relaxed, sheltered, or distracted that they stop focusing on ensuring that their children have adequate supervision, understanding, and skills to avoid potential dangers. More >
Safety Plans For Preparing Children To Do Things That Make Adults WorriedChildren’s drive to explore and be more independent can give ulcers to their parents. It can be challenging to find the right balance between keeping children safe while letting them visit new places, be with new people and do more adventurous things. More >
Summer Safety: Kidpower Tips for FamiliesSummer often brings changes in everyday habits or activities that can pose new People Safety challenges. Vacations, camp, overnights, outings to amusement parks, or increased "home alone" time can be wonderful experiences, and they can all be more enjoyable when children have basic safety skills - skills they can build on all year long. More >
People Safety" Issues and Skills for Teens and Adults
Boundary-Setting and Communication Skills
Fullpower Boundaries with People We Know for AdultsInformation for adults about how to set effective boundaries. Boundary rules for adults, how to communicate boundaries, dealing with reactions from other people. More >
Assertive Advocacy The difference between being passive, aggressive, and assertive can be learned at a young age -- in fact, as soon as children can speak and understand language fairly well. In Kidpower workshops, we show children the difference with puppets, stories, and role-plays -- and then coach them to try out different attitudes themselves. More >
Boundary-Lowering Tactics to Understand It is important to notice how and when these tactics are being used and not let them stop you from making your own choices. Is this person is trying to get you to do something that you also want? Or are you are being persuaded to lower your boundaries in ways that might not be in your best interests? More >
Conflict Resolution By Backing Up To Go Forward People often see backing up from a position that they have taken as diminishing their self-worth. They might go to great lengths to justify negative behavior as a way of protecting their image of themselves as being important, as being smart, as having good intentions, or as being right. More >
Integrity in Communication Maintaining integrity in communication is an easy commitment to make theoretically, but hard to sustain in real life. Many aspects of the larger social culture we live in do not foster honesty, direct respectful communication, getting help to solve problems, being tolerant of differences, or being proactive in addressing concerns. More >
Taking Charge of the Wishing TechniqueWhen we wish for someone to change her behavior, we may also show subtle physical indicators of discomfort or unhappiness: a flinch, a shrug, rolling of the eyes, a glare, or silence. Instead, learn to take charge and ask for what you want. More >
Conscious ApologiesInstead of habitually never apologizing or always apologizing, we can become conscious about when and how to apologize and about what to say and do instead when saying 'I’m sorry' is inappropriate. More >
Customer Power: Dealing with Rude SalespeopleReader’s Problem: Sales clerks and waiters are often really rude to me. I feel frustrated because they don’t seem to respect me as a customer. I don’t want to be rude myself, but can’t figure out what else to do. More >
Emailing Angry: Think Before You Hit Send The problem is that, once a message is sent, it is not possible to get it back again – and the written word has a permanence to it: the recipient can look at the message over and over again, getting more and more upset or confused. More >
Reader's Question: Caring Men Who Say Women Are Weaker Reader’s Question: A man I know keeps telling his girlfriend that she just isn’t as strong as a man and she agrees with him! I know that this isn’t a safe way for her to think about herself. What can I say to help both of them? More >
Staying Safe While Helping Others We can improve our capacity to manage triggers we might have about being asked for help by taking the time to reflect on our own experiences asking for, and being asked for, help. More >
Use Email with Care and WisdomEmail is an extremely useful tool that needs to be used with care and wisdom in order to stay effective and safe. Here are some of the guidelines we have developed over the years in order to prevent problems and build community. More >
Five Communication Strategies I Already Know -
But Forget to UseIn Kidpower, we have found that knowing something is not the same as being able to do it. This is why we encourage Positive Practice, so that people are successful in using skills in contexts that are relevant to their lives. It’s also why we address issues that get in the way, such as emotional triggers. More >
Personal Safety for Different Ages, Cultures, and Problems
People Safety Skills for Seniors Our Seniorpower programs give older students the chance to practice the same self-protection, confidence, advocacy and self defense skills as our programs for younger people within a context that is relevant to their specific situations. More >
Addressing Cultural Issues in Teaching People Safety In every culture where I have taught “People Safety” skills, including my own, sooner or later someone always says, “But in OUR culture, things are different.” And, of course, this person is right! In each culture, many things are different. More >
Self-Protection For People With DisabilitiesOur experience in teaching personal safety to people of many different abilities and life challenges is that what is most important is to focus on how to use what you CAN do to keep yourself safe. More >
Chopped Broccoli: Lessons About Safety from People with Mental Health Challenges Some of our workshops serve people struggling with severe, chronic mental illnesses. These students have given me profound insights in learning to teach personal safety more effectively to people of all abilities. Their honesty and courage have added depth to my understanding of what it means to be safe and have showed me how, with a little imagination, People Safety skills can be adapted to help address all kinds of problems. More >
Personal Safety to Help Stop Domestic ViolencePersonal safety skills will not solve the social causes of domestic violence, and they will not work all the time - but these skills can help people avoid getting into a destructive relationship, make the best of a bad situation, preserve their sense of self-worth and keep looking for a way to get help. More >
Travel Safety Tips Tips for safe travel, including how to keeo yourself healthy, planning ahead, being aware of your surrpundings, and avoiding theft. More >
Workplace Violence PreventionHow do violent acts affect your business? The cost of just one incident causing injury to an employee goes far beyond immediate medical attention, counseling, repairs, and potential liability suits. Here is information on creating a safe workplace. More >
Holiday Power: Emotional Safety During the HolidaysToo often, unrealistic expectations, lack of time, and difficult relationships lead to stress and even to misery instead of to joy during the holidays. Here are tips on making the most out of your holiday season. More >
Generous Gratitude - The Art of Giving ThanksWhether we are going through easier times or harder times, generous gratitude can help us come back to our best selves and can help us nurture our relationships. More >
CollegePower
CollegePower for Parents -
Promoting Your College Student's Independence, Safety, and WisdomEvery year, I see thousands of parents going through the bittersweet experience of sending their children to live away from home for the very first time. If you are the parent of a new college student, feeling both excited for your child and worried is normal. More >
Teen Safety Issues, Strategies, and Skills
Teenpower Boundaries with People We Know Information for adults about how to help teens lear to set effective boundaries. Boundary rules for teens, how to communicate boundaries, dealing with reactions from other people. More >
Make Safety and Respect "The Way it Is"Just as we have explicit rules of driving for safety on the road, we need to have explicit rules of behavior for other settings in order to protect personal safety for children and teens. More >
Substance Abuse Prevention Substance abuse is a form of violence to oneself and potentially to others. The following overview uses Kidpower’s approach to teaching self-protection skills to suggest some possibilities for adults who want to help. More >
People Safety for New Teen Drivers and their Passengers The Impact Teen Drivers program builds a strong foundation of awareness of the dangers of being distracted while driving and of the tragedy and heartbreak resulting from car accidents, which give teens these important messages: More >
Tobacco Refusal Tactics for Teens Peer pressure is one of the main reasons why young people start smoking, in spite of all the education they’ve received about how dangerous smoking is for your body and for the people around you. More >
Overcoming the Bystander Effect:
Kidpower Response to Richmond High School Assault We at Kidpower are deeply saddened at the brutal sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl who was gang-raped in Richmond, California, while over 20 other teens and adults nearby did nothing to get help. Some even laughed and called others over to watch. More >
People Safety Tools for Protecting Sexual Safety for Teens and Adults Survivors of domestic and dating violence often report being forced into unwanted and/or unprotected sexual behavior. Their partners might use emotional coercion, physical intimidation, and violent assaults to pressure them to be sexual in ways that are against their values, their best interests, or their wishes. More >
Stopping Sexual Harassent in Schools Once, I was teaching Kidpower in an after-school program with children from about eight through 12. When a very pretty ten-year-old girl walked in, several boys in the room started staring at her, whistling, and making suggestive comments about how she looked. The uncomfortable resigned look on this girl’s face gave me the strong impression that this happened all the time, right in front of their teachers. More >
Self-Protection and Self-Defense in the Face of a Threat or Assault
Protecting Yourself from Rape and Sexual Assault
The Courage NOT to Fight: Using Target Denial to Be SafeNot all tragedies can be prevented, but preparing young people to use target denial can keep them safe most of the time. Target denial means denying a potential attacker access to you, physically or emotionally. More >
Target Denial by Finding the Door to Safety
(by Erika Leonard, Manager of California Services)Practicing methods of coping with challenges in a place where we feel safe and successful can increase our confidence and competence when facing a similar situation on our own. More >
Violence Prevention by Getting HelpPracticing methods of coping with challenges in a place where we feel safe and successful can increase our confidence and competence when facing a similar situation on our own. More >
Date Rape Drugs: How to Protect Yourself Sexual assault facilitated by drugs can be prevented much of the time by awareness of the problem and by taking charge to minimize the chances of ingesting the drug. Date-rape drugs are used much more often than many people realize and are important to keep in mind in social situations. More >
Self-Defense for Men You are safest if you see fighting as a last resort and do what you can to stay safe without having to fight; this is true in self-defense for men as well as for women. Your safest choice is to try to use your awareness and intuition to avoid possible trouble. More >
Protect Yourself From A Threat:
How To Sound And Look Like You Believe What You Are SayingSelf-defense includes more than knowing how to hit or kick; it also includes knowing skills and behaviors that can prevent a problem in the first place. More >
Protect Yourself from an Attack: Resistance Works Most of the TimeSelf-defense for women, men, and children is a subject that generates not just myths but also actual research. Studies show that resistance works against sexual assault most of the time. The more powerful the resistance and the more ways you resist, the less the chance of coming to harm. According to the FBI in the United States, just one strong move of ANY kind stops most attacks! More >
Reader's Question: Won't Walking Away Make Me Look Weak? Reader’s Question: I know that you say that it’s safer to walk away, but I worry that just leaving will show an attacker that I’m afraid. Won’t walking away make me look weak? More >
Stalking: How To Protect YourselfInformation about who stalks; what to do if you are being stalked; protecting your privacy; and the truth behind dangerous myths about stalking and stalkers. More >
How to Pick a Good Self-Defense ProgramThe quality of the program and approach of the instructor will make a huge difference in the results of any kind of training. If training is about self-defense or any other important life skills, the potential benefits are real and so are the potential dangers. It is worth taking the time to make a thoughtful decision. More >
Preventing an Attack by Staying Focused on Making Safe Choices – A Fullpower Success StoryLast week, one of our students sent me the following story about how she used what she’d learned in our workshop that morning to stop an attack the same evening. More >
Emotional Safety for Teens and Adults
Dealing with Economic Uncertainty: The Kidpower Way Seven tips about empowering yourself and others when facing economic challenges, using some 'People Safety' ideas and skills from Kidpower. More >
Protecting Ourselves from Negative BeliefsUnfortunately, like pollution, which can challenge our physical health, the negative attitudes and comments of others and the destructive things we tell ourselves can undermine our sense of who we are. More >
Believe In Yourself: The Foundation of Personal SafetyThe majority of our beliefs are conditioned from an early age. It is important to realize that a belief is not 'truth' in any absolute sense - it's a belief. A belief is something that we have learned, a partial view of the world, a model of how things work. More >
Sexual Harassment: Another Kind of PollutionHarassment simply means unwanted attention. Sexual harassment is the intentional imposition of unwanted sexual attention. Behavior that violates the standards set by the community or a boundary set by the individual can be considered intentional. More >
True Safety For Women: A Response to Fearful MessagesIn making decisions about how to create true safety in your life, we encourage you to keep the following points in mind. Below are the steps we recommend to both women and men in making decisions about how to protect your personal security. More >
Personal Safety and Online Resources: Check the SourceEmail safety tips often scary, often wrong. Personal safety decisions are important, so take the time to base them in accurate information. More >
Staying Calm Under Pressure Many people ask, 'How can I calm myself down when I am under pressure so that I can make better choices for myself?' This is a great question because you will be far more effective at handling difficult situations if you are calm and aware rather than upset and anxious. More >
“Mean” Adults?? – Five Kidpower Skills to Address Adult-to-Adult Bullying In any relationship, people might make mistakes, lash out in hurtful ways, be rude, or be thoughtless. Bullying means that someone (or more than one person) is repeatedly and deliberately trying to hurt another person with less power. More >
Workplace Communication and Self-Protection Skills
Speaking Up About Putdowns When someone is saying something that is hurtful or rude, speaking up takes courage. Speaking up takes the skills of knowing the words to say and how to deal with negative reactions. Finally, speaking up takes wisdom, because there are times when speaking up is a mistake. More >
Assertive Advocacy The difference between being passive, aggressive, and assertive can be learned at a young age -- in fact, as soon as children can speak and understand language fairly well. In Kidpower workshops, we show children the difference with puppets, stories, and role-plays -- and then coach them to try out different attitudes themselves. More >
“Mean” Adults?? – Five Kidpower Skills to Address Adult-to-Adult Bullying In any relationship, people might make mistakes, lash out in hurtful ways, be rude, or be thoughtless. Bullying means that someone (or more than one person) is repeatedly and deliberately trying to hurt another person with less power. More >
Integrity in Communication Maintaining integrity in communication is an easy commitment to make theoretically, but hard to sustain in real life. Many aspects of the larger social culture we live in do not foster honesty, direct respectful communication, getting help to solve problems, being tolerant of differences, or being proactive in addressing concerns. More >
Conscious ApologiesInstead of habitually never apologizing or always apologizing, we can become conscious about when and how to apologize and about what to say and do instead when saying 'I’m sorry' is inappropriate. More >
Emailing Angry: Think Before You Hit Send The problem is that, once a message is sent, it is not possible to get it back again – and the written word has a permanence to it: the recipient can look at the message over and over again, getting more and more upset or confused. More >
Staying Calm Under Pressure Many people ask, 'How can I calm myself down when I am under pressure so that I can make better choices for myself?' This is a great question because you will be far more effective at handling difficult situations if you are calm and aware rather than upset and anxious. More >
Taking Charge of the Wishing TechniqueWhen we wish for someone to change her behavior, we may also show subtle physical indicators of discomfort or unhappiness: a flinch, a shrug, rolling of the eyes, a glare, or silence. Instead, learn to take charge and ask for what you want. More >
Fullpower Boundaries with People We Know for AdultsInformation for adults about how to set effective boundaries. Boundary rules for adults, how to communicate boundaries, dealing with reactions from other people. More >
Conflict Resolution By Backing Up To Go Forward People often see backing up from a position that they have taken as diminishing their self-worth. They might go to great lengths to justify negative behavior as a way of protecting their image of themselves as being important, as being smart, as having good intentions, or as being right. More >
Sexual Harassment: Another Kind of PollutionHarassment simply means unwanted attention. Sexual harassment is the intentional imposition of unwanted sexual attention. Behavior that violates the standards set by the community or a boundary set by the individual can be considered intentional. More >
Workplace Violence PreventionHow do violent acts affect your business? The cost of just one incident causing injury to an employee goes far beyond immediate medical attention, counseling, repairs, and potential liability suits. Here is information on creating a safe workplace. More >
The Foundation of Personal Safety
What Is People Safety?In Kidpower, we use the term “People Safety” to mean what individuals can do to keep themselves and others emotionally and physically safe. In other words, people being safe with people. More >
What Is the Fullpower Course Like?Often the words of our students are most helpful in the process of enabling others to identify their own preconceptions about self defense training and to research options for themselves. More >
Seven Keys to Personal SafetyBelieve in yourself; face reality; be aware; trust your intuition; develop strong body language; set boundaries; and fight back. More >
Why Bother Learning About Safety?Learning to keep yourself safe isn't only to have the skills to protect yourself in case of an emergency someday – it's to give you a new sense of empowerment and freedom right now and for every day of your life. More >
How to Make Fear Your Friend and Advisor Rather than Your JailerThere are two kinds of fear. There is the natural, sensible reaction to imminent danger, i.e. actual danger that is in front of us right now. This type of fear can be a great asset. More >
Intuition: Trust its WisdomPersonal safety for women, men, and children includes being aware when something feels uncomfortable or unsafe and taking charge as soon as possible. From time to time, we are asked about intuition - what it is and how to use it more effectively to help us stay safe. More >
We Each Have Our OWN Kind of BeautyRecently, I was talking with a dear friend of my family about getting old. “The biggest thing I really don’t like,” he said with a wry smile, “is when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and I wonder, ‘Who IS that ugly old man?’” More >
Protecting Children With Disabilities and People of All Ages with Special Needs From Bullying, Abuse, and Other Violence
Self-Protection For People With DisabilitiesOur experience in teaching personal safety to people of many different abilities and life challenges is that what is most important is to focus on how to use what you CAN do to keep yourself safe. More >
Unlimited Adaptability – Teaching People Safety Skills to Individuals With Different AbilitiesOur philosophy in providing services is to look for what people can do rather than what they cannot do. We have learned that it is crucial to avoid making assumptions based on how our students look when we start. More >
Kidpower's International Safety Signs
for Everyone, EverywhereAs part of our Bridges to People Safety Initiative, we have created Kidpower’s International Safety Signs to help teachers, family members, and other caregivers teach “People Safety” skills and concepts to individuals with very limited or no speech. More >
Kidpower Safety Plans for Children with DisabilitiesChildren with disabilities are vulnerable to being targeted for bullying, abuse, and other violence. The Kidpower approach emphasizes making Safety Plans in order to prevent problems. More >
Introduction to Kidpower Safety SignsAs part of our Bridges to People Safety Initiative, we have created the Kidpower Safety Signs to help teachers, family members, and other caregivers teach “People Safety” skills and concepts to individuals with very limited or no speech. More >
Bridges to People SafetyOur Bridges to People Safety initiatives include a number of projects to "bridge" the gaps between what we currently offer and adaptations that have been requested by different groups with specific concerns. More >
Response to Frightening News Events
Helping Children Regain Their Emotional Safety After a TragedyWhen tragedy strikes, the results are traumatic both for those directly affected and for the community of people who know them or identify with them. Although we cannot control the fact that a tragedy has taken place, adults can do a great deal to help children regain their sense of emotional safety. More >
Armed Violence In Schools: Kidpower Solutions for Empowering ChildrenViolence in schools anywhere can leave parents and children everywhere feeling overwhelmed with worry. Right after the shootings at Columbine High School, a six-year-old girl in a workshop at a private school asked me, “What if someone comes to our school and starts shooting everybody?” More >
Answers to Some Scary What-If Questions About School Shootings: Kidpower Response to Virginia Tech Tragedy If a young person seems worried, explain that the safest plan is to get away from the dangerous person and to get to safety. Review what the safety plan is at school and explain that locking someone out can prevent a dangerous person from getting to where students are most of the time. More >
Empowering Children to Explore Their World With Confidence and Safety:
Kidpower Initial Response to Sandra Cantu Kidnapping Tragedy As adults, we grieve for the tragic loss of a young life cut short and want desperately to protect other children from harm. At the same time, we do not want to deal with this tragedy in a way that traumatizes children or prevents them from enjoying their lives. More >
Staying In Charge of Who is Caring for our Children:
Kidpower Follow-up Response to Sandra Cantu Kidnapping TragedyThe lesson for parents is to be sure we really know who is caring for our children, that we are very clear about what our expectations are with supervision, and that we keep paying attention to whether or not this is a stable person. More >
Violence Against Children in the News: What Adults Need to Do and SayWhen we hear about violence against children, committed by strangers or by people they know, we can help young people by being aware of this bias in the media, managing our own feelings, and helping our children learn positive safety skills, focusing on safety instead of danger. More >
Just in Case: What Children Need to Know if They Cannot Get Away at First - Kidpower Response to Jaycee Dugard KidnappingKidpower has helped many, many thousands of children to be safer, less fearful, and more confident. Here are seven ideas from Kidpower about how to give children tools that can help them “just in case” they cannot get away from someone acting scary. More >
"Stranger Danger" in the News:
Building Awareness and Confidence Instead of Fear“Stranger danger” wording and other scary or negative images are often used by the media when they present stories about violence, particularly violence against children. Here are tips for helping your children understand violence inthe news without creating fear. More >
Safety Comes from Inside Ourselves: A Response to September 11, 2001For many of us, a terrorist attack, like child abuse, feels more personally horrifying than an illness or natural disaster because it is being done deliberately by people who intend to hurt other people who are innocent. More >
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Bullying – Preguntas y respuestas frecuentes de Kidpower
Resiste el Bullying con Confianza
De Regreso a Clases: 7 Pasos Para Tener Una Experiencia Positiva
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Lo Que los Adultos Deben Saber Sobre La Seguridad Personal De Los Niños Pequeños
Que es "la Seguridad de Gente?"
Seguridad en Halloween
Tarea Para Padres, Maestros, y Cuidadores
Pautas de seguridad Kidpower para padres
