RAD Kids

This past year there have been atleast two attempted abductions of children in my neighborhood. These attempts were fairly aggressive, and thankfully both children were able to run away. The reaction of the parents in our neighborhood was certainly something to behold. Information about the individual seeking to harm our children was circulated quickly and thoroughly with flyiers and via email. There were neighborhood discussions, and meetings with police.

Then this summer some concerned parents went the extra mile, and introduced our community to something called "RAD Kids". RAD in an acronymn for Resisting Aggression Defensively. It is an absolutely amazing program designed to teach kids how to protect themselves. They don't just talk about being safe, they let them practice how to keep themselves safe. It contains a fairly intensive curriculum, and requires those hoping to be instructors in the RAD Kids program to participate in a very rigorous training program.

After learning about the program - many elementary schools in our area found volunteers and financial assistance in creating a RAD Kids program for their students. My own children have been lucky enough to have dedicated parents & school personel institute a RAD Kids program for our school. This January I watched my sweet Kassidy literally "practice" getting away from a "bad guy". It made me so proud and grateful for the program. I'm going to include a video of her "practice" session, and a link to the RAD Kids website. But, before I do, I wanted to tell you the first two RAD Kid rules (that personally I think are AWESOME!).

1. You are Special! And ABSOLUTELY NO ONE has the right to hurt you.
2. You do not have the right to hurt anyone else, Including yourself, UNLESS you are stopping someone from hurting you.

I've had some pretty frank conversations with my kids this year about bullies, strangers, and anyone else who could try to hurt them (including friends and relatives), and how they should respond. But the cool thing is, they have been able to physically practice how to resist aggression from others on a consistent basis. I hope you check out the website - I promise it will be worth your time.

www.radkids.org