Hurting words can get stuck in our heads or our hearts and stay there for a really long time. AND, we do NOT have to let this happen! Our Kidpower emotional safety skills have been preparing people of all ages to protect their feelings for 35 years.
In 1991, a ten-year-old girl told her teacher, “I decided to make a little trash can that other kids teasing me can’t see. I curl up my fingers to make a Mini Trash Can to throw away their words. I can even do it behind my back. And it WORKS! So, I taught it to my friends – and it works for them, too.”
This technique has stood the test of time. Very recently, a mother in Argentina told our instructor, “My son came home and announced, ‘It WORKS! It WORKS!’ He had used his Kidpower Mini Trash Can when some kids were saying mean things to him during recess. Instead of feeling terrible, he enjoyed throwing those words away so much that he went around the school secretly throwing away every hurtful word he heard, even when it was directed at someone else.”
Imagine the stress, misery, and conflict that can be prevented if everyone knows how to use the power of their bodies and minds to stop hurting words from getting inside! Everyone deserves to have these skills!
I hope you will include Kidpower in your year-end giving so that we can continue to never turn anyone in need away for lack of money, train others in how to teach our skills, and create new educational resources.
Our generous leadership donors will match your gift – and all gifts up to $35,000 through December 31st.
Published: November 26, 2024 | Last Updated: November 26, 2024
Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director
Kidpower Founder and Executive Irene van der Zande is a master at teaching safety through stories and practices and at inspiring others to do the same. Her child protection and personal safety expertise has been featured by USA Today, CNN, Today Moms, the LA Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Publications include: cartoon-illustrated Kidpower Safety Comics and Kidpower Teaching Books curriculum; Bullying: What Adults Need to Know and Do to Keep Kids Safe; the Relationship Safety Skills Handbook for Teens and Adults; Earliest Teachable Moment: Personal Safety for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers; The Kidpower Book for Caring Adults: Personal Safety, Self-Protection, Confidence, and Advocacy for Young People, and the Amazon Best Seller Doing Right by Our Kids: Protecting Child Safety at All Levels.