for independence & healthy relationships

Teenpower skills prepare youth for safer, more positive experiences with people as they take on more independence – online and in-person. We teach social-emotional strategies teens can use to:

  • Strengthen relationships with conflict resolution, consent, advocacy, boundary setting, and other communication skills
  • Stay safe from interpersonal harm with strategies for taking charge of safety in public, at school, at work – everywhere they go, in person and online.

Teenpower skills prepare youth for safer, more positive experiences with people as they take on more independence – online and in-person. We teach social-emotional strategies teens can use to:

  • Strengthen relationships with conflict resolution, consent, advocacy, boundary setting, and other communication skills
  • Stay safe from interpersonal harm with strategies for taking charge of safety in public, at school, at work – everywhere they go, in person and online.

Issues

Our students learn core social-emotional safety skills for effective communication, advocacy, and self-protection through examples tailored to a group’s priority topics. Popular topics include:

Boundaries

Consent skills are part of the larger set of boundary setting skills that help people be safe from bullying, abuse, intimate partner violence, and other harm. Boundaries also help strengthen meaningful relationships.

Through examples tailored to their ages, abilities, and life situations, teens learn to:

  • Express and withdraw consent – and respect others’ boundaries
  • Stop unwanted touch and attention – online and in person
  • Act assertively to strengthen their boundaries
  • Use their bodies and voices to make their boundaries clear
  • Uphold boundaries with confidence in the face of pressure
  • Choose words, online and in person, to make boundaries more effective
  • Recognize common boundary-lowering tactics – and respond assertively
  • Recognize common boundary-lowering tactics – and respond assertively
  • Apply consent and boundary principles in personal, romantic, professional, and online relationships
  • Tailor their boundary approach to the situation, so boundaries they set with adults in power may sound different than boundaries with peers
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!

Conflict resolution & communication

Our core skills support positive communication and effective conflict resolution at all ages by equipping classes, teams, families, colleagues, and other groups with skills to:

  • set, respect, and uphold boundaries
  • manage personal triggers in order to think clearly and act wisely
  • address problems directly and assertively rather than ‘badmouthing’ or resenting others
  • adjust emotional distance and protect your feelings from hurtful words and emotional attacks
  • apologize consciously, respectfully, and appropriately – without apologizing habitually
  • consider timing when bringing up an issue – and recognize when disengaging respectfully is safest
  • use boundary bridges, I-statements, and other strategies for expressing disagreement respectfully and assertively

Related resources include:
Conflict Resolution by Backing Up to Go Forward
How the ‘Boundary Bridge’ Helps Avoid a Communication Breakdown
Conscious Apologies

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

Assault prevention & safety in public

We teach teens and adults strategies to stop assault, harassment, and intimate partner violence.

In addition, we also teach parents and caregivers skills to ensure young people are safe in their homes, schools, businesses, and communities as well and on their teams and in their clubs.

To support teens’ safety as they take on more independence, we teach violence prevention, personal safety, and de-escalation strategies as well as skills for getting help in public.

We teach emergency-only physical self-defense to use as a last resort for escaping an attack and getting to safety. Our in-person full-force self-defense skills workshops are paused during the pandemic. However, we include coaching in physical self-defense skills in our online workshops for those groups interested in learning these skills remotely during the pandemic.

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.

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

Bullying prevention

Most bullying, including cyberbullying, can be stopped or prevented when everyone involved learns and uses core social-emotional safety skills. We teach:

  • Social-emotional safety skills to be safe from bullying and cyberbullying at all ages
  • Safety leadership strategies for adults to ensure that everyone in their homes, schools, and workplaces is safe from bullying and harassment
  • Positive intervention and coaching skills 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 – or contact us about your needs!

Intimate partner violence prevention

To prevent dating/domestic violence and to help people replace harmful behaviors with safer behaviors to support safe, healthy intimate relationships, we teach skills for:

  • setting, recognizing, respecting, and upholding boundaries
  • expressing, withdrawing, and respecting consent
  • managing emotional triggers in order to think clearly and make wise choices
  • staying safe in the face of verbal and emotional attacks
  • assessing situations and thinking first before acting
  • moving away from trouble emotionally, physically, and digitally
  • making safety plans

Related resources include:
Personal Safety to Help Stop Domestic, Dating, and Other Relationship Violence
Protecting Sexual Safety: Skills to Ensure Consent and Set Boundaries
Fullpower Relationship Safety Skills Handbook

Visit our Dating/Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Prevention resource page for more.

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.

Read more about our services for people with special needs!

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

Below is a selection of our resources specifically relating to personal safety, body safety, and body autonomy for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.

Courses

Teenpower Independence & Healthy Relationships Classroom Lessons

Short, made-for-you lessons teachers can lead independently with their group of teens. Teach safety skills that help prepare them for safer, more positive experiences for their increasing independence – online and in-person.

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>>

Pridepower Safety Skills Online Course by and for the LGBTQIA+ community

These engaging and important video lessons show how to use emotional and personal safety skills to address common issues faced by people in the LGBTQIA+ community and their friends and families.

Learn more about the course>>

Articles

Our Library includes hundreds of free resources with information teens and their adults use every day to stay safe at school, online, at work, at home, and in their communities. Some of the most popular for teens and their parents and educators include:

 

Books

Kidpower Safety Comics Front Cover

Fullpower Safety Comics for Teens and Adults

Teens and adults can prevent and stop most bullying, violence, and abuse using the personal safety skills and strategies described in this safety comic book. It answers the question: “How can I keep myself safe from bullying, abuse, and assault.”
Learn More  |  Buy on Amazon | Buy Digitally
Your Amazon purchases help Kidpower!

One Strong Move Book Front Cover

One Strong Move

This cartoon-illustrated book provides important self-defense lessons showing how to avoid and escape from an attack for adults and teens and for use by adults in teaching children.
Learn More | Buy on Amazon
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!

Kidpower Book Front Cover

Fullpower Social Safety Stories For Teens and Adults Book 2

With part 2 of our 2-part series of social stories for teens and adults, learn and share strategies for getting help, staying safe in public, and protect yourself from bullying, harassment, and abuse. These essential skills are explained in ways that are relevant for the general public, English learners, and people with intellectual disabilities.
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 teens – 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 teens – 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 Teenpower workshops or other services, use the contact us form below.

Contact us!