by Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director | Jul 9, 2012
Make sure your kids are prepared to avoid and escape from danger on the way to school, a friend’s house, the store, or anytime they go out without adult protection. Download a free one-page “Kidpower Safety Checklist for Parents” about how to prepare kids and assess to ensure they are ready to recognize potential danger and make safe choices immediately.
by Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director | Apr 26, 2012
The story about the four-year-old girl being yelled at and chased by TSA officials is outrageous. Let’s make airport screening a fun experience instead of a traumatic one. Here are some recommendations from Kidpower about how parents flying with kids can prepare their children and how the TSA can take care of kids emotionally without sacrificing security.
by Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director | Apr 15, 2012
Dateline NBC series about testing children’s abilities to follow their parents’ instructions to make safe and ethical choices has the potential to be emotionally damaging to kids without making anyone safer. I believe that it undermines trust for children to be tested in such a sneaky way. Children need to believe that their adults are allies who are helping them to be successful, not testing them, letting them fail publicly – and then agreeing to have them publicly humiliated by broadcasting the results on TV. Anyone who has seen one of our Kidpower workshops would agree that watching young people being coached to be successful in taking charge of their safety is educational, empowering, entertaining, and would make GREAT television!
by Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director | Mar 30, 2012
Download a free one-page Kidpower Safety For Kids On The Way To School Checklist about how to prepare kids and assess to ensure they are ready to make safe choices and get help while on their way to and from school, or anywhere else that they are allowed to go on their own. We don’t know what happened to Sierra LaMar, a 15-year-old, who disappeared March 16 and is still missing, but it’s hard not to fear the worst and to WISH that she had known these skills to stay safe.
by Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director | Mar 28, 2012
Like so many, we are deeply sad that 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a Florida high school student, was shot by 28-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Sad for a young life cut short. Sad for his family and friends. We cannot help asking questions and seeking answers about what might have made a difference – and might help to prevent this from happening again.
by Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director | Mar 16, 2012
Before we teach fighting skills to children and teens in our self-defense workshops, we coach them until they are successful in practicing skills that will make fighting unnecessary most of the time.
by Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director | Feb 12, 2012
The Walmart kidnapping video is a compelling reminder to parents about that an abduction attempt can take place in seconds even when you are close by. When a man attempted to kidnap seven-year-old Brittany in Walmart, her courage, fighting spirit, and instant reaction might well have saved her life, Lessons are to keep your security awareness in familiar places, teach children Stranger Safety skills, and prepare children to protect themselves from an attack.
by Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director | Nov 1, 2011
The Penn State Football child abuse case is a classic story of someone misusing his position of trust and power to abuse and coerce kids and of adults in responsible positions not taking action to stop him. The knowledge and skills we teach in Kidpower could have helped to protect these vulnerable boys from harm – and could have caused the abuse to have been discovered and stopped much, much sooner.
by Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director | Oct 18, 2011
As part of its One Million Safer Kids project, Kidpower, a global leader in personal safety education for children, is reminding parents that the trick to having a fun, safe Halloween is to Stay Aware and to teach your children to do the same. As adults, we need to Stay Aware that:
by Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director | Oct 2, 2011
A mother of a student in our Colorado center sent us a letter about how her daughter used Kidpower skills to avoid an assault and keep herself safe.