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After providing twenty-two years of grassroots education through Kidpower, we’ve seen again and again how a few simple skills can stop most attempts of bullying, violence, and abuse. We are proud that we have shared Kidpower skills with over two million people worldwide. When we say that “Kidpower is for everyone,” we mean it!
We also realize just far we still have to go. No matter how long I do this work, my heart still breaks each time I hear of a child who has experienced violence and abuse. We want to reach more children, families, and other caring adults with our core messages and skills.
None of us has the power to make everyone stop trying to do dangerous things, but we all have the power to take action today that will make kids safer.
I am proud to announce that Kidpower has launched an ambitious, interactive, worldwide project called One Million Safer Kids. Through online outreach, distance learning, books, and our extensive library of articles, Kidpower aims to share our core skills with the next million families as soon as possible. Our in-person training will still be as central to our mission as it has always been, and we will enhance it with new offerings that we can share with the whole world. For example, I am arranging a training by Skype for a counselor in Nepal. We are eager to capitalize on our growing ability to connect with people like over the world, both people who have used Kidpower training and resources over the years and people who have yet to hear of us.
One Million Safer Kids by June 30, 2016 or sooner is our goal, and we invite you to join us by taking action in your home, neighborhood, and community that adds to the count. What can YOU do to help a kid in your life be safer? How can Kidpower help? We will track our results and YOUR EFFORTS can be counted as we teach the next million kids, and the million after that.
Why wait? Our worry, fear, and sadness don’t make kids safer. Our actions, time, and commitment can.
Visit our new One Million Safer Kids website to learn more and to share with others.
Wishing safety and joy for you and your loved ones,
Irene
Irene van der Zande
Kidpower Executive Director/Co-Founder
Published: February 10, 2012 | Last Updated: May 6, 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.
