Skills for Safe & Strong Relationships

At All Ages

Kidpower social-emotional safety skills are also skills for building happier, healthier, safer relationships at all ages! For example, in addition to keeping people safe from harm…

  • Setting clear, respectful boundaries can strengthen communication with peers, family members, colleagues, and teammates
  • Acting aware, calm, and confident can make difficult conversations go more smoothly
  • Managing emotional triggers to stay in charge of our words and actions can stop us from harming those we love
  • Applying safety principles about touch and attention in healthy relationships – including clearly expressing, respecting, and withdrawing consent – can deepen trust and strengthen connection with friends, partners, and other loved ones
  • Advocating persistently to get help can get us the support we need when our caring friends, family, and colleagues do not know that we are scared, hurt, or suffering
  • Protecting ourselves emotionally can help us think clearly and make wiser choices about how to respond when people we care about do or say things that feel hurtful or disrespectful

Like all other kinds of skills, these skills get stronger the more they get used! Adults, teens, and children say that their Kidpower skills grow stronger from everyday use – helping them feel more confident about using them in safety situations.

Use our resources and workshops to help yourself and your loved ones have joyful, happy relationships – and you will end up strengthening skills that can prevent bullying, abuse, assault, intimate partner violence, and other harm.

Kidpower social-emotional safety skills are also skills for building happier, healthier, safer relationships at all ages! For example, in addition to keeping people safe from harm…

  • Setting clear, respectful boundaries can strengthen communication with peers, family members, colleagues, and teammates
  • Acting aware, calm, and confident can make difficult conversations go more smoothly
  • Managing emotional triggers to stay in charge of our words and actions can stop us from harming those we love
  • Applying safety principles about touch and attention in healthy relationships – including clearly expressing, respecting, and withdrawing consent – can deepen trust and strengthen connection with friends, partners, and other loved ones
  • Advocating persistently to get help can get us the support we need when our caring friends, family, and colleagues do not know that we are scared, hurt, or suffering
  • Protecting ourselves emotionally can help us think clearly and make wiser choices about how to respond when people we care about do or say things that feel hurtful or disrespectful

Like all other kinds of skills, these skills get stronger the more they get used! Adults, teens, and children say that their Kidpower skills grow stronger from everyday use – helping them feel more confident about using them in safety situations.

Use our resources and workshops to help yourself and your loved ones have joyful, happy relationships – and you will end up strengthening skills that can prevent bullying, abuse, assault, intimate partner violence, and other harm.

Resources

Courses ArticlesVideos Books

Courses from the Online Learning Center

You’ll find an ever-growing array of self-paced courses – including the ones featured below! – in the Kidpower Online Learning Center. Start using them on your own or to help your students, clients, loved ones, or others build skills to be safe.

Free Live Guided Tour of Online Center

Learn what’s in the Kidpower Online Learning Center and how you can use our courses to build healthy relationship skills for yourself and others in your personal and professional lives.

Learn more>>

Safety Powers Course

A free course with short lessons — including videos with captions — to help people of all ages with communication challenges to learn and practice ‘People Safety’ skills to have more fun and few difficulties with people.

Learn more about the course>>

Kidpower Child Protection Training

Learn and practice Kidpower’s internationally-proven intervention, advocacy, and interpersonal safety strategies and skills so you can protect and empower people of all ages and abilities in your organization, school, agency, or family.

Learn more about the course>>

Articles

Videos

Tips for Inviting Open Communication with Our Kids

MJ Hayes, Kidpower of Colorado’s Visiting Instructor and Center Director Kidpower North Carolina, gives tips to parents to teach kids that it is okay to say set a boundary if someone does something unsafe or breaks our safety rules. She also helps parents have specific language tools to open up lines of communication so that our kids come to us with both the small and big things that may be bothering them.

Watch the video>>

Managing Negative Reactions to Boundaries: Kidpower Shorts – Episode 8

In episode eight of the Kidpower Shorts series, Avery discusses negative reactions to boundaries and ways in which people can manage and resist them. This episode expands on boundary practices and shows how to apply communication and emotional safety skills to persist in setting boundaries.

Watch the video>>

Conflict Resolution Skills Webinar for Adults

Master Conflict Resolution Trainer Maryse Postlewaite joins with Kidpower Founder Irene van der Zande to share fun and effective ways of reducing stress, preventing problems, and creating compassionate relationships during this challenging time when many of us are struggling with home all day together or with being far apart. These skills can make life better for everyone – now and into the future.

(Original Broadcast Date: March 31, 2020)

Watch the video>>

Books

Kidpower Book Front Cover

The Kidpower Book for Caring Adults

This inspiring, comprehensive guide puts Kidpower’s over 30 years of experience at the fingertips of parents, educators, and all adults who care about protecting children and teens.
Learn More | Buy on Amazon | Buy Digitally
Your Amazon purchases help Kidpower!

Relationship Safety Skills Handbook Front Cover

Relationship Safety Skills Handbook

This empowering handbook is for victims of, or people at risk of, interpersonal, dating or domestic violence, and the support people in their lives, to learn ‘People Safety’ concepts and skills to help them prevent or stop future violence.
Learn More | Buy on Amazon | Buy Digitally
Your Amazon purchases help Kidpower!

Doing Right by Our Kids

The #1 best-selling guide to Child Safety in the #MeToo era. Practical tools for adults to take charge of the safety and well being of the young people in their care, and to address the obstacles that often get in the way.
Learn More | Buy on Amazon
Your Amazon purchases help Kidpower!

Doing Right by Our Kids is a field guide for practicing courage. It will arm you with the knowledge and skills you need to know when, why, and how to act to protect your kids.”

— Dan Heath, New York Times Bestselling Author

Workshops

Learn Kidpower from the experts! Options include:

  • Online, self-paced courses with captioned videos and more in the Kidpower Online Learning Center
  • Online, live ‘community’ workshops open for public enrollment – see Workshops
  • Online, live ‘organized’ workshops arranged by and for your own group, gathered virtually or physically – presented by a virtual instructor (in-person instruction is paused)

Every workshop is unique! In the planning stage, we listen and ask questions about your needs and priorities. Then, we provide a service tailored just for you. Read more about our most popular workshops for safe and strong relationships – and contact us to explore options for yours!

For teams of health & human services providers and educators

All kinds of schools and health, recreational, health care, and social service agencies and groups arrange Kidpower Professional Development Programs for:

  • full staff
  • volunteers
  • team members within a staff who do similar work or who work with the same clients, customers, consumers, students, or patients
  • paraprofessionals, aides, and support staff

Each is tailored to the needs of the group. Common priorities include bullying prevention; abuse prevention; safe and inclusive climate; skills for safe, strong relationships; and safety for people with special needs. US$1900-up. Contact us to discuss Kidpower Professional Development options for your agency, school, or facility!

For parents and guardians

Parentpower Programs are tailored based on your group’s priorities. Any adult can take the lead in organizing a program for any type of group such as an informal group of friends; a support and advocacy group; a school or district; a business; or a community based organization. Your adults-only Parentpower Program can be:

  • taught in English, Spanish, or French by an instructor skilled at working with interpreters
  • open to all adults your online platform will allow – up to 95 if using Kidpower’s Zoom
  • presented in 1 or 2 parts of 1-2 hours each, US$950-up

Contact us to explore Parentpower options for your group!

For families

Familypower Programs give young people side-by-side with their parents, caregivers, or other adult allies an opportunity to have fun learning safety together! Each Familypower Program is tailored to youth participants’ ages and life situations as well as your priorities. Familypower Programs serve 10-50 families/screens (max varies based on youth ages) and can be:

  • taught in English, Spanish, or French by an instructor skilled at working with interpreters
  • tailored for youth in the age range you choose, side-by-side with their parents/guardians/adult allies
  • adapted to meet the needs of learners of diverse abilities
  • presented in 1 or 2 parts of 1-2 hours each, US$950-up

Contact us to explore Familypower options for your group!

For individual adults

Whether you are seeking skills for your own personal safety and well-being or you are seeking skills to protect and empower others – such as your own children, students, clients, or consumers – you can:

  • Learn and teach using the videos, skills guides, and other resources in the Online Learning Center courses. Consider starting with the Kidpower Child Protection Training course, the Adapting to Learning Differences course, or the Safety Powers Course, which is free to adults everywhere thanks to generous funding from Ability Central.
  • Register for one of our upcoming Community Workshops open for public registration. Individual adults can sign up for Fullpower and Parentpower programs, and you are likely to find options addressing topics of interest to you as you parent, teach, or guide others.
  • Organize a Fullpower Adult Safety workshop for yourself and friends, family members, or others in your life who are interested in learning these skills with you. Sessions can be offered in 1 or 2 parts of 1-2 hours each, US$950-up.
  • Organize a Kidpower Professional Development Workshop for yourself and others doing similar work. Your workshop could be for co-workers at a single agency – or for people doing similar work but for different agencies in different locations. Each is tailored to the needs of the group. Sessions can be offered in 1 or 2 parts of 1-2 hours each, US$1900-up.

Contact us with any questions about our workshops, resources, or programs for yourself or for a group!

Costs

Self-paced courses in the Kidpower Online Learning Center are priced by course – and some are free! See current self-paced course offerings and costs. Depending on your group and your priorities, live workshops online or in-person (if available in your area) can be:

  • 1-6 hours in length, total
  • One-time, single-session
  • Multi-part, 2-12 sessions

Minimum costs for workshops and programs taught live:

  • US$950-up for parent/caregiver and family workshops
  • US$950-up for workshops serving a teacher with their class
  • US$1900-up for professional development programs

Please do not let lack of money stop you from reaching out! Since 1989, we have remained committed to doing all in our power to ensure that money is not the sole factor preventing people from getting access to Kidpower. Costs listed are the costs incurred by Kidpower, and we have an outstanding track record of working with groups to address costs, including by using grant funding secured by Kidpower. Contact us now to talk about your situation! We will tell you the exact cost of the services you are considering.

For teams of health & human services providers and educators

All kinds of schools and health, recreational, health care, and social service agencies and groups arrange Kidpower Professional Development Programs for:

  • full staff
  • volunteers
  • team members within a staff who do similar work or who work with the same clients, customers, consumers, students, or patients
  • paraprofessionals, aides, and support staff

Each is tailored to the needs of the group. Common priorities include bullying prevention; abuse prevention; safe and inclusive climate; skills for safe, strong relationships; and safety for people with special needs. US$1900-up. Contact us to discuss Kidpower Professional Development options for your agency, school, or facility!

For parents and guardians

Parentpower Programs are tailored based on your group’s priorities. Any adult can take the lead in organizing a program for any type of group such as an informal group of friends; a support and advocacy group; a school or district; a business; or a community based organization.

Your adults-only Parentpower Program can be:

  • taught in English, Spanish, or French by an instructor skilled at working with interpreters
  • open to all adults your online platform will allow – up to 95 if using Kidpower’s Zoom
  • presented in 1 or 2 parts of 1-2 hours each, US$950-up

Contact us to explore Parentpower options for your group!

For families

Familypower Programs give young people side-by-side with their parents, caregivers, or other adult allies an opportunity to have fun learning safety together! Each Familypower Program is tailored to youth participants’ ages and life situations as well as your priorities. Familypower Programs serve 10-50 families/screens (max varies based on youth ages) and can be:

  • taught in English, Spanish, or French by an instructor skilled at working with interpreters
  • tailored for youth in the age range you choose, side-by-side with their parents/guardians/adult allies
  • adapted to meet the needs of learners of diverse abilities
  • presented in 1 or 2 parts of 1-2 hours each, US$950-up

Contact us to explore Familypower options for your group!

For individual adults

Whether you are seeking skills for your own personal safety and well-being or you are seeking skills to protect and empower others – such as your own children, students, clients, or consumers – you can:

  • Learn and teach using the videos, skills guides, and other resources in the Online Learning Center courses. Consider starting with the Kidpower Child Protection Training course, the Adapting to Learning Differences course, or the Safety Powers Course, which is free to adults everywhere thanks to generous funding from Ability Central.
  • Register for one of our upcoming Community Workshops open for public registration. Individual adults can sign up for Fullpower and Parentpower programs, and you are likely to find options addressing topics of interest to you as you parent, teach, or guide others.
  • Organize a Fullpower Adult Safety workshop for yourself and friends, family members, or others in your life who are interested in learning these skills with you. Sessions can be offered in 1 or 2 parts of 1-2 hours each, US$950-up.
  • Organize a Kidpower Professional Development Workshop for yourself and others doing similar work. Your workshop could be for co-workers at a single agency – or for people doing similar work but for different agencies in different locations. Each is tailored to the needs of the group. Sessions can be offered in 1 or 2 parts of 1-2 hours each, US$1900-up.

Contact us with any questions about our workshops, resources, or programs for yourself or for a group!

Costs

Self-paced courses in the Kidpower Online Learning Center are priced by course – and some are free! See current self-paced course offerings and costs.

Depending on your group and your priorities, live workshops online or in-person (if available in your area) can be:

  • 1-6 hours in length, total
  • One-time, single-session
  • Multi-part, 2-12 sessions

Minimum costs for workshops and programs taught live:

  • US$950-up for parent/caregiver and family workshops
  • US$950-up for workshops serving a teacher with their class
  • US$1900-up for professional development programs

Please do not let lack of money stop you from reaching out! Since 1989, we have remained committed to doing all in our power to ensure that money is not the sole factor preventing people from getting access to Kidpower. Costs listed are the costs incurred by Kidpower, and we have an outstanding track record of working with groups to address costs, including by using grant funding secured by Kidpower.

Contact us now to talk about your situation! We will tell you the exact cost of the services you are considering.

We’re here to answer your questions, suggest resources, and give you more information about how to take or plan a class. Contact us today!

Contact us!