1.  We talk to the students about the right to have safe places to be and safe people to be with.  If ever they don't feel safe, we help them identify people they can go to for help, like mom, dad, grandparents, guardians, teachers, counselors, school nurse. We talk to the students about being strong and standing up for themselves as well as being strong enough to talk about things that are bothering them.  We talk about the right of being free to make choices that affect them, like choosing good friends and making safety decisions that can keep them from harm.  Our motto is "Safe, Strong and Free!"

 

2.  We discuss bullying and how to get help if a child is being bullied. We do a lot of role-playing with the students that show what bullying looks like, how it feels and how fighting doesn't solve the problem.  We discuss reporting a problem vs tattling.  We discuss conflict resolution and how children can learn to get along with each other even if they aren't good friends.

 

3.  We discuss stranger dangers and some of the tricks that a stranger might use to confuse children and lure them into a dangerous situation.  We role-play safety ideas and make sure that students talk to parents and get permission before going anywhere with anyone. We discuss not going into someone's house or yard or car without their parents knowing about it first. We talk about safety on computers, phones and the internet.  We want children to make sure they talk to their parents about activity on social media. 

 

4.  We discuss safe, unsafe and secret touching so children know the difference between them.  We encourage children to talk with parents and/or other trusted adult helpers if they are having any issues that are making them feel uncomfortable.  We want the children to know that keeping feelings and concerns a secret doesn't help solve the situation.

 

5.  We demonstrate how a child can talk to an adult helper about their feelings.  This is a role-play that we do with the school counselor, so all of the students know the school protocol for going to the counselor and can see that the counselor is a good adult helper at school.

 

6. We give each child a pencil that says "Safe, Strong and Free!" and we also send a newsletter home with the students for the parents to review.  This way, parents know what we've talked about and how to reinforce our safety messages with their children.

 

That's our workshop!  We are a SAFETY presentation.  We don't discuss body parts or anything like that.  Our mission is to help kids learn how to get help for bullying situations, how stay safe from stranger danger and how to talk with parents and adult helpers when they don't feel safe.