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 KIDPOWER E-Newsletter
 March 2008 International Edition
In This Issue
True Safety for Women: A Response to Frightening Internet Messages
What If My Child Saw an Inappropriate Website?
The Gift of Safety


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 Dear Readers,

One of KIDPOWER's goals is to redefine power to meanHands Down Power how effectively you can take charge of the well-being of yourself and others rather than how strongly you can fight.

A preschool teacher recently told me how she had taught her two sons about Walk Away Power. She heard her children starting to get annoyed with each other and suddenly heard her older son yell at his younger brother, "JUST USE YOUR WALK AWAY POWER! RIGHT NOW!"  And her younger son walked away! She says that this is much better than what her children normally said and did when they were upset!

During a school program on teaching about intolerance to third graders, a mother said that she showed children how to use Hands Down Power to stop yourself from hitting and Mouth Closed Power to stop yourself from saying something hurtful.

I suggested that she add practicing non-attacking comments that students could use when someone else makes a prejudiced remark, such as,  "That sounds unkind. Please stop." Or, "That sounds like intolerance. Please remember that we want everyone here to feel safe."

Our dream is that learning People Safety skills like these will prepare individuals of all ages and abilities, including those with special needs, to use their own power to face life's challenges with confidence, with grace, and with confidence.

Thank you for helping to make this dream become a reality by sharing ideas, by teaching skills to people in your own life, by telling others about our organization, and by supporting KIDPOWER in different ways that work well for you.

Please take a moment to visit our website at kidpower.org and please listen to Erika Leonard's inspiring audio-tape about The KIDPOWER Challenge, which includes a couple of very moving success stories and a very easy and exciting opportunity to support our work.

Wishing each of you a joyous March,


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Irene van der Zande
KIDPOWER Executive Director/Co-Founder


True Safety for Women: A Response to Frightening Internet Messages

Think First

Please pass this article on to your friends!
The Internet and other media are full of misleading or inaccurate messages about personal safety. Especially women are given a confusing combination of upsetting stories, a couple of good ideas, and some fear-based suggestions that are often so rigid that they are at best impractical and at worst dangerous.

Personal security does not come from a list of measures or any specific self-defense techniques or weapons.

Reader's Question: What if my young child has seen an inappropriate website?
Mother and Daughter Talking

Reader's Question:
My five-year-old daughter was at a friend's house and they accidentally saw a website that had inappropriate sexual content. They didn't get very far before the adults there stopped them, but I was horrified.

WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT!
Kids Thank You PicMANY 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.

Thank you for subscribing to our KIDPOWER E-Newsletter and taking the time to help others stay safe, act wisely, and believe in themselves! To edit your subscription information, click here. KIDPOWER would not be where it is today without the support of all its members!



email: safety@kidpower.org

phone: 800-467-6997 in USA or (831) 426-4407

fax: 831-426-4480

P.O. Box 1212

Santa Cruz, CA 95061

USA

web: http://www.kidpower.org