The power of yelling “NO!”
Teenpower Personal Safety Skills Empower and Protect Young People
Personal safety skills prepare teens and pre-teens to navigate their world with safety and confidence. Because of their increasing independence, teens and preteens face an especially high risk of violence and assault that can often be prevented through awareness, action, and skills.
- What skills do teens learn?
- How does Teenpower motivate and prepare teens?
- What educational resources are available?
- What workshops are offered for teens?
What skills do teens learn?
Teens practice a broad spectrum of People Safety skills including:
- Dealing with bullying and peer pressure
- Learning how to say “no” effectively
- Managing emotional triggers
- Preventing violence before it escalates
- Setting boundaries and dealing with conflict
- Getting help
- Physical self-defense to escape from a violent assault
Our goal in teaching physical self-defense is to equip young people with skills to escape from emergencies if they are in danger and cannot just leave. In our Full Force workshops, students practice physical self-defense skills with a head-to-toe padded instructor.
How do we teach these skills?
- We use role-play, “learning by doing,” interesting activities, and plenty of laughter.
- We focus on the positive and on the power that teens have to avoid harassment and avert violence.
- We use upbeat language that is not fear-based.
- Our materials capture the lessons with positive, everyday language that is relevant to teens.
Library and Store Resources Specific to Teaching Teens
Here are free articles in our Library for adults to use to teach teens and for teens to use to build their knowledge and skills.
- Teenpower Boundaries with People We Know
- Substance Abuse Prevention
- People Safety for New Teen Drivers and their Passengers
- People Safety Tools for Protecting Sexual Safety for Teens and Adults
- Stopping Sexual Harassment in Schools
- Make Safety and Respect “The Way it Is”
- CollegePower for Parents – Promoting Your College Student’s Independence, Safety, and Wisdom
- Boundary-Lowering Tactics to Understand
The following publications in our Store provide extensive information about how to teach teens as well as younger children.
- The Kidpower Book for Caring Adults: Personal Safety, Self-Protection, Confidence, and Advocacy for Young People provides extensive information on how to prepare teens to take charge of their emotional and physical safety, develop healthy relationships, and increase their confidence.
- Fullpower Safety Comics and Teaching Kits give cartoon-illustrated tools for teaching and practicing “People Safety” skills that can stop most abuse by preparing teens to set boundaries and get help.
- The Relationship Safety Handbook is for adult and teen victims and potential victims of relationship violence, as well as the support people in their lives.
What workshops are offered for teens?
Teenpower workshops have been taught in a wide variety of settings ranging from 2 hour one-time programs to school assemblies to longer-term programs for physical education classes or youth group.
Teenpower Full Force Self-Defense Workshops
In this upbeat, five-hour program, students learn and practice skills for dealing with verbal attack, peer pressure, and harassment as well as assaults from strangers and acquaintance. Students also practice Full Force self-defense with the head-to-toe padded instructor. For students under 18, parental permission is required.
This workshop can accommodate up to 15 teens ages 13 to 18.
California Workshop Schedule. More information on organizing a workshop for your group
Teenpower Personal Safety Workshops – 2 hours
This engaging, active program gives teens the opportunity to learn and practice using boundary-setting, advocacy, awareness, and de-escalation skills that can prevent and stop most violence and abuse. Most often, these workshops are offered through youth groups and high schools. No physical self-defense is included in this workshop unless otherwise specified.
California Workshop Schedule. More information on organizing a workshop for your group
What if we can’t get to a workshop?
Our library offers a wealth of free resources, including articles, videos, podcasts, our e-newsletter, and our blog, which provide tools for understanding and using the skills we teach.
Our store has publications for sale including our Safety Comics, our Kidpower Guide eBook, our Kidpower Book for Caring Adults, our cartoon-illustrated Teaching Kits, our Relationship Safety Book, and our Comprehensive Program Manuals. These materials show how to teach People Safety skills and concepts to the important children, teens, and adults in your life.
If you don’t have a Kidpower center close to your community, consider setting up a new one and training as an instructor.
We also train teachers and other professionals to include Kidpower in their lessons and programs so that young people everywhere can learn Kidpower!