protection and empowerment skills

Kidpower teaches skills to keep kids safe from interpersonal harm through services and resources for:

    • parents and caregivers, to equip them with skills to protect and empower young people from early childhood through the teen years
    • children together with their adults, so kids learn and practice social-emotional safety skills together with parents, teachers, coaches, or other caring adults who can continue to reinforce the skills and help kids adapt and apply them over time
    • educators, coaches, counselors, and other youth and health service professionals, to equip them with tools to integrate effective child protection, bullying prevention, and abuse prevention strategies into their standard practices in schools, camps, teams, agencies, clubs, and clinics

Issues

Kidpower social-emotional safety skills help to protect young people from many types of harm and equip them with strategies for a lifetime of safer, more positive experiences with people everywhere they go – online and off.

Child abuse prevention

To help children be safe from child abuse, including sexual abuse, Kidpower teaches parents, teachers, and other caring adults:

  • child protection strategies to protect children from abuse
  • age-appropriate safety skills adults can teach to children without scaring them
  • coaching strategies to practice the skills with kids in ways that can reduce fear and build confidence

To protect children in your personal or professional life from abuse and other harm, see our:

Our abuse prevention trainings and resources include extensive boundary setting practice because boundaries are a powerful prevention tool – and, they are also powerful skills for strong, healthy relationships! See Kidpower Skills to Persist in Protecting Personal Boundaries Through the 5 Levels of Intrusion™

To explore workshop options, visit our Workshops page or contact us!

Kidpower is an Erin’s Law Law child abuse prevention recommended resource.

Bullying prevention

To prevent and stop bullying, we teach:

  • teachers, administrators, and other youth-serving staff, because even at the high school level, staff – not students – are the ones responsible for ensuring that everyone in a school or agency is safe from bullying and harassment.
  • parents and caregivers, so they can protect and empower their own kids; advocate for kids being bullied at school, online, or anywhere else; and ensure that people in their own homes are safe from bullying.
  • youth ages 3-18 together with their adults, so they can learn age-appropritate skills together with adults – such as parents and teachers – who can help them continue to practice and adapt the skills over time.

Depending on their ages and their roles, participants learn:

  • Social-emotional safety skills to be safe from bullying and cyberbullying, adapted for students’ ages and life situations
  • Safety leadership strategies for staff, administrators, agency leaders, parents, and other caring adults to teach safety skills to young people; to ensure that their own actions consistently reflect their commitment to bullying and harassment prevention; and to ensure that everyone in their homes, schools, and workplaces is safe from bullying and harassment
  • Positive intervention and coaching skills that parents, teachers, coaches, and other youth service providers can use to guide those using bullying behaviors to replace them with pro-social behaviors
  • We provide tailored support for dealing with specific types of bullying such as social aggression, cyberbullying, adult-to-adult bullying, and prejudice-based bullying and harm. Use our bullying prevention resources – and learn more about our preK-12 SEL school programs and curriculum.
  • Learn online with our workshops and resources, check out our services for schools – or contact us about your needs!
Kidnapping prevention

To protect young people from kidnapping and abduction, we teach:

  • Child protection strategies for adults
  • Stranger safety strategies for young people

Through our proven approach designed to reduce fear while building skill and confidence, participants learn how to:

  • act aware, calm, and confident
  • make family safety plans for being safe in public
  • use voice as a safety tool, such as to yell for help or to set boundaries
  • recognize possible trouble early – and move away from trouble toward safety
  • get help in public if kids get separated or are being bothered when their adults are not there to help
  • follow safety rules about talking with strangers, taking things from strangers, or going with strangers
  • follow safety plans for getting help in emergencies if they cannot get help from their own adults
  • use emergency-only physical self-defense to use as a last resort for escaping an attack and getting to safety. (Note: our in-person full-force self-defense skills workshops are paused during the pandemic. Online workshops can include coaching in physical self-defense skills)

We have more than three decades of experience adapting physical self-defense skills for people ages six and up of all abilities – including people with low vision; people who are deaf/hard of hearing; people who use wheelchairs, walkers, canes, and other mobility tools; and neurodiverse people representing a broad range of cognitive abilities.

To learn more, see:
Stranger Safety – Assault and Kidnapping Prevention
Kidpower Child Protection and Advocacy Resources
Self-Paced Kidpower Child Protection Online Institute

Related resources include:
One Strong Move: Cartoon-Illustrated Self-Defense Lessons
How to Pick a Good Self-Defense Program

To bring Kidpower Stranger Safety skills and programs to your school, see our preK-12 SEL school programs and curriculum.

Online safety

Technology changes, but Kidpower’s core principles for safety with people are timeless, preparing people for safety online now and throughout their online lives. We teach:

  • Awareness to prevent problems before they start
  • Assessment to avoid, de-escalate, or end unsafe situations
  • Moving away from trouble emotionally and digitally
  • Boundary setting to stop unwanted attention
  • Disengaging to leave activities skillfully
  • Assertive advocacy to get help with safety problems
  • Safety planning for individuals and for groups of peers online together.
  • Emotional safety to stay safe, calm, and effective in the face of threats, harassment, intimidation, peer pressure, bullying, or other emotional attacks.

To be safe online, youth need caring adults involved in their online lives.
Without adult guidance, youth online are more vulnerable to abuse, coercion, bullying, manipulation, and other harm. This is true even for digital natives more skilled with technology than their adults. See:

To explore workshop options, visit our Workshops page or contact us!

Adapting for All Abilities

Kidpower makes safety accessible for people of all abilities.

We have more than three decades of experience adapting safety education to protect and empower people with disabilities – who face a high risk of bullying, assault, harassment, and other harm at all ages.

The success of our Unlimited Adaptability approach to safety education grows from our our focus on possibilities rather than limitations and the proven Kidpower Positive Practice Teaching Method use in our services for all ages.

Additional relevant resources include:

Read more about our services for people with special needs!

Early childhood safety ages 0-6

Long before they can talk or move on their own, babies are learning from their adults about what it means to be safe and to be important.

Our job as adults is to provide nurturing, love, guidance, and protection – and, to remember that babies are also aware of how we speak and act. When we speak and act in safe and respectful ways, babies are learning lessons about safety and respect!

As young children start to develop more mobility, understanding, and language, our job is also to start teaching them how to be safe in their world and with other people – in addition to remembering that our own words and actions are also teaching lessons about safety and respect.

Learn more about Kidpower Early Childhood Safety for Ages 0-6!

Supporting independence

Adults often struggle to find the balance between giving young people more independence while also keeping them safe.

Instead of taking an ‘all-or-nothing’ approach to having children do different activities – in person or online – without adult supervision, Kidpower recommends a five-step plan:

  1. Make realistic assessments about each child in each situation.
  2. As a family, learn and practice skills for taking charge of safety – in person and online.
  3. Field-test the skills in real world and online spaces by co-piloting, so youth can practice their skills with ‘adult back-up’
  4. Conduct trial runs to rehearse independence in lower-risk, ‘low stakes’ situations with adult backup.
  5. Keep communication open with listening, ongoing checking in, and review.

Our Parentpower and Familypower Workshops these skills tailored to situations, depending on the class and the group. Contact us about organizing a workshop for your own group!

These resources offer strategies you can learn, use, and teach right away:

Preparing Children for More Independence
Balancing Independence with Safety
How to Tell When a Child is Ready for More Freedom or New Privileges
Helicopters or Protectors? How to Keep Kids Safe without Unhelpful Hovering

Skills for safe, strong relationships

Use and teach Kidpower skills to support safe, strong relationships for your children with peers, family members, teachers, and others.

Boundary and advocacy skills – which include skills for consent and body autonomy- are powerful tools for improving communication and building trust and understanding in meaningful relationships. These skills also help keep relationships of all kinds safe and healthy. So, all Kidpower boundary and boundary resources will prepare adults to empower youth with powerful relationship skills!

Here are some specific resources focusing on friendship issues:

Best Friends and Mistakes: A Teaching Story from Kidpower
Acting Friendly or Truly Being Your Friend? How to Tell the Difference
Social Aggression and Relational Aggression: Kidpower Skills for Recognizing the Problem and Staying Safe
Suicide Prevention Success Story: The Opposite of Cyberbullying

Here are some specific resources focusing on family relationships:

Advocating for Your Kids with Adult Family Members and Friends
How to Make Family Gatherings Great Instead of Awful
Grandparenting: Supporting Strong Family Relationships

Here are some specific resources about relationships with teachers, coaches, and others in a professional or volunteer support role:

Most Teachers Are Heroes!
Youth Sports Safety Resources
Choosing a Therapist for Your Child or Yourself

About our core skills

Our core social-emotional safety skills help people of all ages and abilities take charge of safety and well-being – online and in person. Skills include how to:

  • Act aware, calm, and confident
  • Protect yourself emotionally from hurtful words or behavior
  • Manage emotional triggers to stay in charge of what you say and do
  • Recognize what is and is not safe
  • Move away from trouble physically, emotionally, and digitally
  • Assess – and think first or check first before acting
  • Set powerful and respectful boundaries
  • Apply safety principles about touch and attention in healthy relationships
  • Advocate assertively and persistently for help with safety problems
  • Use your voice and body to stop an attack and get to safety

We teach age-appropriate, ability-appropriate adaptations of these skills using examples and activities relevant to students’ ages and life situations.

Our trainings for parents and professionals teach adults how to teach these skills to others in their personal and professional lives.

Learn online with our workshops and resources – or contact us about your needs!

Resources

CoursesArticlesBooks

Courses

Kidpower Starting Strong Classroom Lessons

Kidpower’s Starting Strong curriculum is designed to make it fun and easy for educators to teach ‘People Safety’ lessons to groups of young children from about 3 to 7 years old. Starting Strong Online Classroom Lessons includes clear explanations, relevant social stories, and directions for practicing each set of skills along with adaptations for learning differences.

Learn more about the course>>

Kidpower Confident Kids Classroom Lessons

Easy, fun, made-for-you lessons educators can use to teach ‘People Safety’ skills to groups of kids ages 7-13. Each lesson includes clear explanations, relevant social stories, directions for skill practices, and adaptations for learning differences.

Learn more about the course>>

Mini Safety Lessons for Young Children

6 English pilot mini-lessons – Watch and tell us what you think! Short, entertaining and educational videos on safety for young children ages 3-7 and their adults. This course is free!

Learn more about the course>>

Face Bullying with Confidence

8 skills from Kidpower to practice proven strategies to prevent and stop bullying. Practice for your own safety – or coach a child, student or group. Adults and youths use these skills to avoid or end bullying at school, at work, in their communities, online.

Learn more about the course>>

Parentpower: Prevent Sexual Abuse Without Scaring Kids

Learn Kidpower strategies to protect and empower kids and teens with skills to help keep them safe from abuse – without scaring them.

Learn more about the course>>

School Shootings: How do we protect our kids?

As so many parents, educators, and caring adults are struggling with this heartbreaking question, Kidpower led a special free online program for adults on June 2, 2022, “School Shootings: How do we protect our kids?” We had such a tremendous response from the 250 people who enrolled that we decided to make this webinar widely available.

Learn more about the course>>

Books

Kidpower Safety Comics Front Cover

Kidpower Children’s Safety Comics Color Edition

Now in color! This book answers the question, “How do I teach my kids to be safe with people without scaring them?” Have fun sharing the social stories together with your kids, and they’ll be learning powerful skills. Young children will ask you to read it again and again!
Learn More  |  Buy on Amazon | Buy Digitally
Your Amazon purchases help Kidpower!

Kidpower Safety Comics Front Cover

Kidpower Youth Safety Comics

This book helps parents and teachers answer the question, “How can my older kids stay safe while becoming more independent?” A fun, practical tool for discussing and practicing ways to stay safe from bullying, abuse, and violence – and how to avoid difficult or dangerous problems with people you know and people you don’t.
Learn More  |  Buy on Amazon | Buy Digitally
Your Amazon purchases help Kidpower!

Kidpower Book Front Cover

Kidpower Children's Social Stories Book 1

This is the first of a set of two books – but you can use them in any order to teach young children safety skills in ways that are fun and effective, not scary, using these explanations and social stories. Book 1 focuses on how to be and act aware, be safe with touch, set boundaries, be safe with words, move away from trouble, and check first with adults before doing something new.
Learn More |  Buy on Amazon 
Your Amazon purchases help Kidpower!

Kidpower Book Front Cover

Kidpower Children's Social Stories Book 2

This is the second of a set of two books – but you can use them in any order to teach young children safety skills in ways that are fun and effective, not scary, using these explanations and social stories. Book 2 focuses on how to get help, stay safe with private areas, stay safe with strangers and in public, be powerful with your voice and body, and stop bullying by taking charge of safety.
Learn More | Buy on Amazon
Your Amazon purchases help Kidpower!

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 children – and contact us to explore options for yours!

For professionals

Youth-serving organizations of all kinds arrange Kidpower Professional Development Programs for:

  • full staff teams- to build a common language for safety among everyone in your agency
  • groups of staff – for people doing similar work with youth, i.e. all the counselors at a camp, all the coaches in a league, or all aftercare providers working at a single site, etc.
  • volunteers, aides, office staff, and other 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 youth with special needs. US$1900-up.

Contact us to discuss Kidpower Professional Development options for your agency!

For parents & guardians

Give parents and caregivers in your community an opportunity to learn strategies to protect and empower their kids.

Workshops for parents and caregivers are tailored based on your priorities – such as bullying prevention, abuse prevention, online safety, stranger safety/abduction prevention, safety for youth with special needs, etc.

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 options!

For families

Familypower Programs give youth side-by-side with their adults an opportunity to have fun learning age-appropriate safety skills together. Each Familypower Program is tailored to the families’ life situations and the ages of the participating youth – 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 (3-18) side-by-side with their parents/guardians
  • 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 the families served by your agency!

For teams, troops, classes, & other groups of youth

We teach youth side-by-side together with their regular group leaders – such as their coaches, counselors, troop leaders, aftercare providers, teachers, etc. – in Kidpower Group Workshops. Your workshop can be:

  • taught in English, Spanish, or French
  • tailored based on your priorities and kids’ ages and life situations
  • adapted to meet the needs of learners of diverse abilities
  • arranged with Kidpower Professional Development to offer fieldwork training for staff
  • presented in 1-12 parts of 20-120 minutes each, US$950-up

Contact us to explore Kidpower Group Workshop options for your agency!

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.

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 children – and contact us to explore options for yours!

For professionals

Youth-serving organizations of all kinds arrange Kidpower Professional Development Programs for:

  • full staff teams- to build a common language for safety among everyone in your agency
  • groups of staff – for people doing similar work with youth, i.e. all the counselors at a camp, all the coaches in a league, or all aftercare providers working at a single site, etc.
  • volunteers, aides, office staff, and other 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 youth with special needs. US$1900-up.

Contact us to discuss Kidpower Professional Development options for your agency!

For parents & guardians

Give parents and caregivers in your community an opportunity to learn strategies to protect and empower their kids.

Workshops for parents and caregivers are tailored based on your priorities – such as bullying prevention, abuse prevention, online safety, stranger safety/abduction prevention, safety for youth with special needs, etc.

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 options!

For families

Familypower Programs give youth side-by-side with their adults an opportunity to have fun learning age-appropriate safety skills together.

Each Familypower Program is tailored to the families’ life situations and the ages of the participating youth – 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 (3-18) side-by-side with their parents/guardians
  • 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 the families served by your agency!

For teams, troops, classes, & other groups of youth

We teach youth side-by-side together with their regular group leaders – such as their coaches, counselors, troop leaders, aftercare providers, teachers, etc. – in Kidpower Group Workshops. Your workshop can be:

  • taught in English, Spanish, or French
  • tailored based on your priorities and kids’ ages and life situations
  • adapted to meet the needs of learners of diverse abilities
  • arranged with Kidpower Professional Development to offer fieldwork training for staff
  • presented in 1-12 parts of 20-120 minutes each, US$950-up

Contact us to explore Kidpower Group Workshop options for your agency!

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.

To inquire about Kidpower workshops or other services, use the contact us form below.

Contact us!