Replacing Stranger Danger With Stranger Safety
Kidnapping Prevention for Children, Teens, and Adults
“Stranger Danger” does not protect anyone from being kidnapped or assaulted. Most violence is caused by people we know, not by strangers. Also, believing that the world is full of dangerous people called “strangers” is emotionally unsafe for kids and adults alike.
Instead of Stranger Danger, kids, teens, and adults need to know about Stranger Safety and to be prepared to use self-protection skills for avoiding and escaping an assault both from strangers and people they know.
We can protect kids from most abduction attempts and other violence by learning what to watch out for, by preparing kids with skills before letting them go anywhere on their own without adult protection, and by ensuring they have skilled adult supervision while their own skills are still developing. Practicing Stranger Safety and self-protection skills successfully helps to increase confidence, develop competence, and reduce anxiety. Kidpower teaches how to do this in a way that is not scary, but fun. Specific resources addressing abduction and assault prevention in our Library, Books, and Training/Consulting Services are below.
Library Resources
- Protecting Children from Abduction/Kidnapping
- Safety with Strangers and People Children Know
- Resisting the “Illusion of Safety”
- What Adults Need to Know About Personal Safety for Children
- Is YOUR Child Prepared to Avoid and Escape From Danger? Free Safety Checklist for Kids On Their Way to School
- What Children Need to Know if They Cannot Get Away at First
- How to Pick a Good Self-Defense Program
- Tools for Empowering Children to Explore Their World with Safety and Confidence
See the Kidpower method for teaching kidnapping and abuse prevention
This old introductory video has outdated statistics but shows vivid examples of how Kidpower prepares kids to protect themselves from abduction and abuse.
Training and Consulting
- In-Person Workshops
- Long Distance Seminars
- Personal Coaching for Families
- Consulting for Schools and Organizations
See our California services or other locations for our in-person services with a wide range of public and privately organized workshops that give our students the opportunity to practice social-emotional and self-defense skills that help them learn how to protect their emotional and physical safety, gain confidence, and build better relationships. For information about our long-distance seminars and personal coaching sessions that can be conducted anywhere by video-conferencing, email, or telephone, please contact us.
Books
- The Kidpower Book for Caring Adults: Personal Safety, Self-Protection, Confidence, and Advocacy for Young People provides extensive information on how to protect children from abduction and teach them to be safe both with strangers and people they know.
- Kidpower and Fullpower Safety Comics and Teaching Kits give cartoon-illustrated tools for teaching and practicing “People Safety” skills that can stop most kidnapping through by preparing kids to set boundaries and get help.