Bullying Prevention Expert and Kidpower Leader, Irene van der Zande, reviews the “Bully” movie with an eye toward what to do after you watch the documentary – because just watching is not enough to make a lasting difference for kids and families struggling with severe bullying, even in schools and communities where “anti-bullying” policies have been adopted.
Bullying Prevention Expert and Kidpower Leader, Irene van der Zande, reviews the “Bully” movie with an eye toward what to do after you watch the documentary – because just watching is not enough to make a lasting difference for kids and families struggling with severe bullying, even in schools and communities where “anti-bullying” policies have been adopted.
On sunny peaceful day, 75-year-old Stephen Pollard fell from his bike and was mortally injured. Sad as the outcome was, it was beautiful how a group of strangers gathered together immediately to do what we could to help someone we didn’t know, that we suddenly became a community who all wanted him to live.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
For our special press release about this educational outreach, we need quotes from people who have used our program to help make kids safer.
The Ohio School Shooting in Chardon has left one student kiled and four others injured — and a community in trauma. As parents, grandparents, teachers, and other caring adults, we want to know how to empower our children rather than leaving them feeling that stopping violence is hopeless and that they are helpless.
Our affordable safety comics, teaching books, handbooks, and program manuals prepare readers to bring Kidpower’s “People Safety” knowledge and skills into their daily lives.
Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media: