To be safe online, strong tech skills alone are not enough. Youth need caring adults involved in their online lives. Without adult guidance, youth online are more vulnerable to abuse, coercion, bullying, manipulation, and other harm. This is true even for digital natives more skilled with technology than their adults.
Technology changes, but Kidpower’s core principles for safety with people are timeless, preparing people for safety online now and throughout their online lives.
We teach:
- Awareness to prevent problems before they start
- Assessment to avoid, de-escalate, or end unsafe situations
- Moving away from trouble emotionally and digitally
- Boundary setting to stop unwanted attention
- Disengaging to leave activities skillfully
- Assertive advocacy to get help with safety problems
- Safety planning for individuals and for groups of peers online together
- Emotional safety to stay safe, calm, and effective in the face of threats, harassment, intimidation, peer pressure, bullying, or other emotional attacks
In our workshops, Kidpower Colorado covers safety with technology using the core principles listed above. We do not currently offer a workshop that focuses only on online safety. You can organize a virtual program on technology safety by contacting Kidpower International.
