Copyright Notice
|
| Please see our copyright information
|
|
|
Dear Readers,
|
 The first person many of you meet from our KIDPOWER Central Office by telephone or e-mail is Allegra (pictured right), who has been our dynamic Program Assistant here for over seven months, cheerfully tackling the hardest of jobs with no fear. Allegra is just starting her training as an instructor and we can already tell that she will be great in working with kids.
One of the challenges that Allegra has taken on is to improve our current website and to bring the capacity to continue to make changes in-house. Some of the improvements so far include:
Please e-mail Allegra at safety@kidpower.org if you have any trouble opening any of the pages or any suggestions for making our website easier to use.
This year is going quickly, please let us know right away if you are interested in joining our TEENPOWER/ FULLPOWER Comprehensive Program Training, which takes place at the end of April. This program helps prepare instructors for our organization who want to teach teens and adults, including people with disabilities.
Best wishes to all of you for a beautiful February,
Irene van der Zande
KIDPOWER Executive Director/Co-Founder
|
Reader's Question: Won't walking away make me look weak?
|
Reader's Question: I know that you say that it's safer to walk away, but I worry that just leaving will show an attacker that I'm afraid. Won't walking away make me look weak?
KIDPOWER Answer: There is a self-defense technique that our law enforcement and martial arts experts tell us is the best technique of all time. The official name for this technique is Target Denial, which means denying yourself as a target to a person who might be dangerous to you or, in other words, Don't be there! Nothing works all the time, but you can remove yourself from harm's way with your body - and with your feelings - most of the time.
The sad reality is that too many people have ended up dead, injured, or in jail because they were afraid of appearing weak.
Of course, how you walk away makes a big difference! If you cower, put your head down, and act scared, this will indeed make you look weak. If you act tough and challenge someone, that is likely to provoke a confrontation even though you might be moving away.
Instead, if you act like a powerful respectful leader, you will look strong even as you are leaving to get to a safer place. You can learn to do this no matter how scared, upset, or angry you feel inside. This is why we have our students practice walking away from someone being insulting or threatening with a calm, aware, and confident attitude.
|
|
| Cyberbullying and Cyber-Threats |
 The Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use has published an updated
edition of their very helpful book, Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats:
Responding to the Challenge of Online Social Aggression, Threats, and
Distress by Nancy Willard. This comprehensive resource for schools and families provides
education and guidance about how to prevent, recognize, and stop the
use of online technology to create, fear, harassment and violence. The
website also has a number of free articles including a parents'
handbook, sample policies for schools, and reports on this difficult
issue.
|
TEENPOWER/ FULLPOWER Instructor Training Announcement
|
 We are now accepting applications for the TEENPOWER/ FULLPOWER
Comprehensive Program Training. This intensive five-day program
provides an opportunity to learn about our positive practical method of
teaching personal safety skills to teens and adults, including people
facing difficult life challenges. The training takes place in California from April 25th through April 29th, but the deadline to apply is March 1st.
|
KIDPOWER Board of Directors
|
If you want to make a big impact on helping KIDPOWER International to grow for the future, please consider applying to join our KIDPOWER Board of Directors. Take a look at our job description and see if making this commitment might fit well in your life.
|
The KIDPOWER Book for Caring Adults
|
Searching for gifts for your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers? Need something special for your children's daycare providers, teachers, coaches, and troop leaders?
The KIDPOWER Book for Caring Adults is the perfect solution for everyone you know who cares about children!
The KIDPOWER Book for Caring Adults: Personal Safety, Self-Protection, Confidence, and Advocacy for Young People was created in response to the requests of thousands of people who wanted a comprehensive description of our program that they could use in their daily lives. According to an article by Loureen Giordano in Bay Area Parent, October 2007, "This 607-page book, highlighted with photos, sketches and break-out boxes has an easy, conversational style. Van der Zande illustrates her points with personal experiences and practical tips, lifting them from the theoretical and placing them squarely into the doable. Despite the serious content, The KIDPOWER Book is far from a heavy, fear-inducing read. Van der Zande shows adults how to instill confidence in children without transferring their worries to them."
|
Featured Partnership- April Yee
|
 "I give to KIDPOWER because I love the organization's mission and goals. I cannot give much time now and feel great about being able to donate to help KIDPOWER to grow."
Thank you to April Yee, who has been supporting KIDPOWER since 2002!
|
|
WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT!
|
 MANY THANKS to our hundreds of donors and volunteers. Your generosity is making a big difference in our ability to help others.
MANY
THANKS to the Corporate, Foundation, Service Club, and Government
Partners of our Central Office: Albany Lions, Allstate Foundation,
Applied Materials, Atkinson Foundation, Bank of the West, Bayer
Foundation, Big Sky Creative, Blue Shield of California Foundation,
California Endowment, Canadian International Development Agency, Castro
Valley Rotary, Citigroup Foundation, Cisco Systems Foundation, Santa Cruz Commission for the Prevention of Violence
Against Women, Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County, Community Printers of Santa Cruz, David and
Lucile Packard Foundation, The Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation, DeAnza Lions, Deluxe Corporation Foundation,
Driscoll's Charitable Fund, East Bay Community Foundation, Ecolab,
Ephraim Foundation, Finish Line Youth Foundation,the June and Julian Foss Foundation, Freedom Rotary, Fremont Bank, Gayle's Bakery and
Rosticerria, Giant Steps Foundation, Google, the Health Trust, Hitachi America, Ltd., Hitachi
Data Systems, Hitachi High Technologies America, Inc., Hitachi
Foundation, Insurance Industry Charitable
Foundation, In-N-Out Burger, JM Long Foundation, Kaiser Permanente,
Jean and Ed Kelly Foundation, Lowell Berry Foundation, Lucile Packard
Foundation for Children's Health, CTB/McGraw-Hill, Mechanics Bank,
Mervyn's, Omega Nu, Peninsula Community Foundation, Plantronics, Porter
Sesnon Foundation, Arnie Kamrin of PPi Technologies Global, Radio
Shack, Rite Aid Foundation, Ruddie Memorial Youth Foundation, Russell
Investment Group, Safeway, San Lorenzo Valley Rotary, San Francisco Foundation,
Santa Cruz Medical Clinic, Scotts Valley Lions, Scotts Valley Rotary,
Seagate, Sharpdots.com, Silicon Valley Community
Foundation, SmithMicro, Sonora Area Foundation, Staples
Foundation for Learning, Special Hope Foundation, Target Stores, Tides Foundation, Tuolumne
County First 5 Commission, TRIO Foundation, Union Bank of California, Union City Lions,
Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation, Verizon, Vodaphone, Waste
Management, Wells Fargo Foundation, West Marine, and the Y. & H.
Soda Foundation.
|
|
