Copyright Notice
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Dear Readers,
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We have just heard two stories about how KIDPOWER has helped young people get their school year off to a good start, which is what our feature article is about.
As one mother told us, "I feel so thankful that KIDPOWER gives our family great clarity about the importance of setting boundaries and talking about problems. On the first day of school, my seven-year-old son had a classmate start to bother him in the boy's bathroom by looking under the door and then climbing into his stall. My son told his classmate that this was not okay with him and then told me about what happened when he got home. The next day, the boy apologized to my son, so that he felt empowered to have worked this out for himself."
 In another situation, a middle school girl had been harassed at school last year by a boy her age. On the first day of school, he approached her to bother her again. Just as she'd learned in our class, this girl told the boy to "Stop!" When he didn't listen, she stood up and in a firm clear voice told him again. This time, to her astonishment, the boy walked away and left her alone.
Thank you for your enthusiastic response to our audio-podcasts. We have two new ones this month - Internal Safety Alarm and Danger Ahead: E-Mailing Angry. We will be adding a new episode a month going forward.
With appreciation to each of you for your commitment to "People Safety" for yourself and your loved ones,
Irene van der Zande
KIDPOWER Executive Director/Co-Founder
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Starting School ~ The KIDPOWER Way
Seven Steps to a Positive Experience
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The first days of a new school year can be an exciting and  anxious time for many families. Children are often thinking or saying:
"It will be nice to see my friends."
"I hope the teacher likes me."
"I hope the other kids like me."
"I hope it won't be too hard."
"I am worried about that kid who picked on me last year."
"I am sad that summer is over."
Most parents also have mixed feelings. As adults, we know that having a positive beginning for any new experience sets the stage for a successful and happy time. Getting off to a poor start can be like starting to twist on a jar lid the wrong way- it's usually fixable, but takes some effort to get unstuck and start over. At worst, an unhappy beginning to a school year can be very upsetting for everyone.
Here are seven steps for planning and "People Safety" skills to prepare your children to start their school year in the best possible way.
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Read more
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Keeping Safe From Injury Booklet
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 When families have safety plans for preventing and handling different kinds of emergencies, everyone is safer. A free booklet published by Children's Hospital and Research Center Oakland called Keeping Safe from Injury has a number of useful reminders and tips in many languages. One of these tips, for example, is telling children that if there's a house fire, "Don't hide! Go outside!" KIDPOWER teaches children that if they are having an emergency where they cannot check first with their adults, their safety plan is to get help. This means that, in a fire for example, children might need to get help from someone they don't know, such as a firefighter. However, in an emergency where their home becomes unsafe, children will benefit from a safety plan for how to get out of their house and get to someone who can help them, without waiting for an adult to tell them what to do. Practicing this plan in a calm way will empower children to take charge of their safety when they need to. |
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WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT!
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 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, Bay Federal Savings, Bayer
Foundation, Big Sky Creative, Blue Shield of California Foundation,
California Casuality, California Endowment, Canadian International Development Agency, Castro
Valley Rotary, Center for Spiritual Living, 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 Foundation, 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, Office Depot Foundation, Omega Nu, Palo Alto Community Fund, Pantheon, 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, Vodafone, Wal-Mart, Waste
Management, Wells Fargo Foundation, West Marine, Western Digital, and the Y. & H.
Soda Foundation.
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