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

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:

• Kidpower Strategies for Safety Online – and Everywhere Else
• Digital Citizenship & Safety Agreement Template
• Preparing Kids for Good Digital Citizenship

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

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!

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

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!

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.

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!

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!