Video: Origins of Kidpower and Introducing Doing Right by Our Kids

Our goal with Doing Right by Our Kids is to protect and promote child safety at all levels of society. We start with what parents and kids can do, then add on schools, sports teams, community groups, faith-based organizations, and walk up the ladder of change all the way to laws that protect us all. Project co-creator Irene van der Zande and I have made a series of short videos to introduce our work and to share specific skills. We’ll post them here periodically. The first video in... Read more

Review of Dateline NBCs show My Kid Would Never Do That

As parents, we teach our kids safety rules, but what would our kids do if they were actually faced with an enticing lure from a “friendly” stranger? That is the compelling question posed by Dateline NBC’s new hidden-camera series “My Kid Would Never Do That.” I share my collaborator Irene van der Zande’s concerns about using staged situations to test kids on safety rules. This practice has a lot of problems and I do NOT recommend that parents try to create... Read more

Talking to kids about touch and safety doesn’t have to be scary

As parents we know that it’s up to us to talk to our kids about the safety rules about touch and boundaries. This can be an intimidating process for parents, but it doesn’t have to be scary. This conversation can be difficult because often parents don’t know what to say. Kidpower founder Irene van der Zande and I are working on providing resources to help guide you through this process. Here on the Doing Right by Our Kids website, we have just released a free “Talking... Read more

Put Safety First: Three words that could have stopped the Penn State abuse in its tracks

The power of Put Safety First The country is still reeling with the news of the alleged child sexual abuse committed by former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. Head football coach Joe Paterno and President Graham Spanier were summarily fired by the Penn State Board of Trustees last week. Penn State leadership at all levels is under a dark cloud of mismanagement and you have to wonder if when all is said and done and the investigation has been completed, the (in)actions of... Read more

Stay Aware: The Halloween “Trick” that will “Treat” you and your family to safety all year long

As part of its One Million Safer Kids project, Kidpower 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: • Safety does not take a holiday. Don’t let the relaxed atmosphere and distractions of holiday activities fool you into getting trapped by the “Illusion of Safety.” Stay aware of where your children are, whom they are with, and what they are... Read more