Programs

The message of Stand Strong • Stay Safe is simple:

1. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect.
2. Know what is safe.
3. Be assertive: you have the power to choose how to act.
4. Tell a trusted adult, and keep telling until you get the help you need.
5. Abuse is never a child’s fault.

It is up to adults to keep children safe from. Sadly, children must often handle unsafe situations on their own. Like a vaccine against disease, Stand Strong • Stay Safe prepares children to act as their own first line of defense against unsafe situations.

Stand Strong • Stay Safe teaches children about physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and bullying. They learn strategies to stand up for themselves and to contribute to the safety of others in their communities by avoiding secrets, standing up for victims of bullying, and treating others with kindness. The program prepares them to recognize abuse, set healthy boundaries, act assertively on behalf of themselves and others, and get help when they need it.

Why is personal safety education important? In order to prevent trauma inside and out, we must equip our children with knowledge and skills to keep themselves and each other safe.

• 135,300 children in the United States were sexually abused in 2005-2006 (Sedlak et al, 2010); only 30% of these cases were reported to authorities (Finkelhor, Hammer & Sedlak, 2008).
• In Texas, Child Protective Services substantiated 5,928 cases of child sexual abuse in 2012 (USDHHS, 2013); based on the evidence that only 30% of cases are even reported, this suggests that at least 18,000 Texas children were sexually abused during that time.
• Over 1.25 million children in the United States were victims of child abuse and neglect in 2005-2006. Of these, over 700,000 were neglected, 323,000 were physically abused, and 148,500 children suffered emotional abuse (Sedlak et al, 2010).
• In 2016, there were over 55,000 reported victims and 9,070 confirmed victims of child abuse or neglect in Houston.

Child abuse and neglect, as well as other forms of victimization, have significant health and mental health consequences for children and families. It has been well established in the research literature (Fang, Brown, Florence & Mercy, 2012) that lifelong consequences of childhood victimization include post-traumatic stress disorder, behavior problems in childhood and often persisting into adulthood, adult criminality, substance abuse problems, and reduced overall health throughout the lifespan. Researchers have found that adverse experiences such as emotional trauma associated with childhood victimization can affect physical health later in life, and increase risks for obesity, heart disease, liver disease, diabetes, alcohol and drug abuse, intimate partner violence, unintended pregnancies, and depression (Felitti et al, 1998).

In addition to the significant health and mental health costs, child abuse and neglect carries a significant economic burden that affects us all. Researchers estimate that the lifetime economic impact of child abuse and neglect cases occurring in 2008 will be, conservatively, $124 billion. In 2012 alone, the direct and indirect costs of responding to child abuse and neglect are estimated to be over $80 billion in taxpayer dollars (Gelles & Perlman, 2012). In other words, the United States pays $220 million per day to deal with the consequences of child abuse and neglect.

The cycle of abuse will continue from generation to generation until children and adolescents are taught how to stay safe, how to handle threatening situations, and how to get help. Stand Strong • Stay Safe is a primary prevention program; it seeks to reduce the likelihood of child maltreatment and victimization and improve the overall wellbeing of children.

Stand Strong • Stay Safe Early Childhood is designed to engage children in Pre-K through First Grade.

Trained educators present engaging, non-threatening content in English or Spanish to students in a variety of educational settings. The program uses active learning techniques such as group discussion and situational problem solving along with age-appropriate curricula, materials, and follow-up activities.

• Assertiveness
• The Power of Kind Words (Emotional Abuse)
• Inappropriate Touch (Sexual Abuse)
• Neglect and Physical Abuse

Stand Strong • Stay Safe Elementary builds on the content covered in the Early Childhood curriculum, providing age-appropriate activities and discussion for older students and offering many opportunities for real-world problem-solving and discussion. Five engaging 30-minute lessons are delivered by trained educators covering a range of topics:

• assertiveness
• emotional control
• setting, communicating, and respecting boundaries
• requesting, giving, and withdrawing consent
• recognizing physical, sexual, and emotional abuse
• distinguishing between safe and unsafe situations
• getting help and avoiding secrets
• preventing bullying
• digital media safety

Two sequential age-appropriate curricula are available for Elementary students. Stand Strong • Stay Safe Lower Elementary is designed for 2nd and 3rd Grades and is appropriate for 4th and 5th graders who have not received Stand Strong • Stay Safe in the earlier grades. Stand Strong • Stay Safe Upper Elementary is designed for 4th and 5th graders who have already received the Lower Elementary curriculum.

Lessons include a comic, a script to guide discussion, and activities for interactive skills practice. The curriculum is packaged with a set of full-color posters, a PowerPoint presentation for each lesson, and a series of follow-up activities that may be photocopied and left with classroom teachers.

The superheroes depicted above and their kid-sized alter-egos help presenters present realistic scenarios to engage students in discussion. Comic pages and animated videos are available as teaching resources.

Direct links to access the curriculum:

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