What comes to mind when you read this list?
- Driver’s education
- Occupational safety training
- Boating course
- Gun safety class
- Tornado drill
- Consumer protection label
The common thread is that these are all designed to provide critical information on how to be safe. In our society today, safety education and information is quite common, available, and valuable. Our goal at the Monique Burr Foundation for Children is to create a culture that values safety education for children and all relevant adults regarding bullying, cyberbullying, digital dangers, and all types of child abuse. We do this through MBF Child Safety Matters®, our research-based, comprehensive prevention education program for kindergarten through fifth-grade students.
Bullying, cyberbullying, and child abuse have become public health crises in our country. Exposure to these types of adverse childhood experiences are strong predictors of later victimization, physical and mental health problems, and academic, social, and relationship difficulties throughout the lifespan. These consequences impact future generations, communities, and society as a whole. Statistics tell us that 1 out of 4 children will be victimized in their lifetime. We also know that 95% of abuse is preventable through education. We believe that our program is the best available for schools to use to protect children. MBF Child Safety Matters stands out among all prevention education programs because of the following unique features and benefits:
- Based on polyvictimization research
- Provides universal strategies to better protect children
- Teaches students five easy to remember Safety Rules
- Found to be an effective program by an independent program evaluation
- Educates and empowers children and relevant adults
- Fun and engaging lessons for children
- Cost effective and easy to implement
- Trained facilitators deliver standardized curriculum
- Helps schools meet many academic standards and health instruction standards
- Meets many state mandates for school-based prevention education
- Meets the criteria established by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s “Guidelines for Programs to Reduce Child Victimization”
Help Us Spread the Word!
We need your help with spreading the word and encouraging schools to learn more about our program! Here are some things you can do to help:
Visit our websites, mbfpreventioneducation.org and http://www.polyvictimization.org/ to learn more about child victimization and how to better protect the children in your life.
Download the “Child Safety Matters” app at no cost from the App Store or Google Play to learn about the 5 Safety Rules and how to become a champion for children.
Visit www.mbfpreventioneducation.org/learn-more/online-training/ to take any of our free, one-hour online courses to learn more about pertinent topics related to child safety:
- Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse/Neglect
- Real World Safety: Protecting Youth Online and Off (Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Digital Safety)
- Protecting Children from Child Sexual Abuse
- Preventing, Recognizing, and Responding to Human Trafficking
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