Author | Permission to Use Info
The “Most Teachers Are Heroes” article was inspired by a conversation with a couple of wonderful teachers at a coffee shop last Saturday.
I had mentioned to them an article I’m working on about protecting kids from bullying by teachers and other adults. They winced, not because this topic isn’t important, but because getting everything ready for their students in the long week ahead is a tiring job.
Suddenly, I realized that I had another article to write first about what we can do to support these dedicated people who are so important in our kids’ lives. “Most teachers are heroes” is a statement I often make in our teacher education workshops as a compliment for them to take in – and their faces light up!
The reality is that children are safest and best able to learn if they are in a positive learning community where everyone supports each other. This article shares ideas I’ve learned from many different people about what we can do to make this happen.
Please pass this article on to the schools, teachers and parents in your life! We’ve included a Permission to Use notice with the PDF and are happy to explain how to publish in other ways.
You can also download our free coaching handbook of 30 Kidpower skills that will help to protect children from all kinds of bullying, abuse, and other safety problems by registering on our One Million Safer Kids page. These are short lessons that can be easily be discussed and practiced with one child or a group of kids. We have extensive cartoon-illustrated explanations and social stories in our Safety Comics and Teaching Kits, which can be found in the Kidpower.org bookstore. Finally, our new Kidpower Book for Caring Adults: Personal Safety, Self-Protection, Advocacy and Confidence for Young People provides an extremely comprehensive resource for all adults who want to know how to use our methodology and skills to protect kids from bullying, abuse, abduction, and other violence for their families, friends, schools, service organizations, etc.
Published: August 27, 2012 | Last Updated: October 10, 2014
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.
