Stay Connected With Your Teen’s Electronic Worlds – In Memory of Audrie Pott, Age 15

15-year-old Audrie Potts from Saratoga, California, took her life after expressing her despair online about being sexually assaulted and cyberbullied. Her parents only found these messages when searching for reasons after her death. According to some estimates, teens spend half their lives online. These electronic worlds are too dangerous for our kids to live in without the knowledge and guidance of the adults who love them.

Too many times, adults don’t discover online messages about cyberbullying, parties with heavy drinking, or warning signs of despair or violence until after something terrible has happened, when the opportunity to take protective action is gone.

Protect Your Child From Abduction: Safety Checklist to Prepare Kids to Go Without Adult Protection

Make sure your kids are prepared to avoid and escape from danger on the way to school, a friend’s house, the store, or anytime they go out without adult protection. Download a free one-page “Kidpower Safety Checklist for Parents” about how to prepare kids and assess to ensure they are ready to recognize potential danger and make safe choices immediately.

STOP THE BUS! Bullying of Older Bus Monitor Shows What Needs To Change

Watching the video of school bus monitor Karen Klein being cruelly bullied by four boys makes me want to stand up and shout, ‘STOP THE BUS!’ Parents and teachers need to teach kids how to recognize destructive behavior, resist peer pressure, speak up when they see someone acting unsafely, and get help. School staff, including bus monitors and playground supervisors, need training and support to stop kids from engaging in bullying of anyone in the moment.

Celebrate PRIDE Week Safely and with Confidence

Violence because of someone’s sexual orientation and identify is just as much of a hate crime as violence due to other forms of prejudice. Both during PRIDE Week and at other times, we encourage members of the LGBTQ community and their allies to be proud of who they are – and to keep these seven People Safety strategies from Kidpower.org in mind so they can celebrate with safety and confidence.