January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month and KidSafe Foundation, the nation’s premiere nonprofit organization formed around the idea that children and their grown-ups should learn how to prevent childhood sexual abuse, exploitation, trafficking and trauma, has launched their newest program. To help raise awareness about this global crime against humanity, and to prevent child sexual abuse, their new program, Stay KidSafe!™, is now available online, free to public elementary schools throughout Florida and the United States. The program supports faculty and teachers, grades K-5, to comply with the State’s Rule to provide Child Trafficking Prevention Education.
Based on expertise gained from over a decade of running onsite educational programs, this groundbreaking research-based, grade-appropriate curriculum is accessible by teachers and faculty to empower students to make safe, smart decisions about their personal safety Using 3-D animated videos and grade-level lesson plans and guides, the program is developed for teachers and facilitators to teach kids how to think about personal safety and what it means to them, how to listen to their own voice and know their rights, learn assertiveness and problem-solving skills, and how to access help and identify their safe circle of adults.
KidSafe Foundation is honored to help children around the country gain the necessary education and ability to understand and speak up when they feel uncomfortable through the new Stay KidSafe!™ program. Implementing
education and support can help build smart, informed children who can help themselves stay safe through child-friendly programs designed to empower kids, not create fear. The animated KidSafe Kids ‘grow up’ with children as they progress through school grades, so they become an integral part of their everyday education in personal safety.
Florida is the first state to mandate that every student in grades K-12 receive Child Trafficking Prevention Education (Fla. Rule 6A-1.094123), and the statistics are shocking: sexually abused children are twice as likely to fall victim to human trafficking, and one in four girls and one in 13 boys report having been sexually abused by their 18th birthday. Only 38% of abused children report abuse, so the numbers are much higher. Although many tools exist to help locate kids who are being trafficked, the first defense for any childhood trauma is an empowered child who knows how to listen to their inner voice and seek a safe circle of adults.
Human Trafficking is often thought of as a tragic crime that occurs in other countries. The reality is that there are children being trafficked directly from their homes. The KidSafe Foundation takes a proactive stance by providing primary prevention education to all schools and districts. Educated staff and children means a safter society for all children. The Stay KidSafe!™ program is turn-key, easy to implement, teaches skills of communication, healthy boundaries, and how to access help, all through a social emotional learning lens. All children deserve access to this education. There are over 38 states across our nation that require child sexual abuse prevention education. The Stay KidSafe!™ program meets and exceeds this requirement. Included in the Stay KidSafe!™ program is training for educators as well as resources for parents. To learn more or to register your school go to https://learn.kidsafefoundation.org
The Stay KidSafe!™ program is currently available free of charge to all public elementary educators in the state of Florida and is also available outside of Florida to extend this beneficial program to school-age children and educators nationwide.
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