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WOMEN’S 20 HOUR IMPACT BASICS CLASS FOR ADULTS AND TEENS
This comprehensive 20-hour program covers a wide range of personal safety skills including physical skills, verbal strategies, and awareness and avoidance skills. The program also covers psychological strategy and mental readiness. All skills are practiced in inter-active scenarios enabling students to learn to deal with the "freeze response’ and to assess a situation and respond quickly and appropriately while in the adrenaline state. Physical skills are practiced full contact, full force against fully padded instructors trained in recreating common assault scenarios.
MEN’S 16-18 HOUR IMPACT BASICS CLASS FOR ADULTS AND TEENS
Using the same teaching philosophy as the Basics class for Women, including full contact, full force training scenarios, this program emphasizes skills which men need to protect themselves. Physical skills, verbal strategies and psychological readiness are geared specifically for men. Practice scenarios are contextualized for the types of assaults that men are most likely to be targeted for.
TEEN PROGRAM AND CHILDREN’S PROGRAM
The IMPACT Workshops for children and teens teach real life solutions for personal safety. We define personal safety in a broad context. Personal safety is external awareness of our environment, choices about how we behave, how we speak to others, and how we let others speak to us. In its simplest sense, it is the skills needed to set limits in situations that make us uncomfortable or are potentially dangerous. It includes how we feel about ourselves and how we relate to our bodies, and how to trust our instincts.
Our programs give students the opportunity to practice in real life role playing scenarios with an anonymous "bad person." The padded instructor enables students to face and appropriately respond to the current issues in their lives, such as bullying, teasing, peer pressure, social cruelty, facing new challenges, relationships, and unwelcome attention.
Most often students understand the issues around safety, but they have not had the opportunity to learn how to respond appropriately in the moment of fear or intimidation. We give them the opportunity to see how it feels and actually do it, in a safe, supportive environment through repetitive role playing. They practice saying, "No" when they mean no and, "Yes" when they mean yes. They practice leading themselves out of problematic situations.
Teen Workshop
Peer pressure, bullying, dating violence, and street crime are addressed in interactive role playing scenarios, using the fully padded instructors. This program can be offered as a one session workshop or it can be integrated into the teaching curriculum of after-school programs or physical education classes at middle schools, high schools, and colleges.
See our set of books: Get Prepare’d Library of Violence Prevention for Young Women
BAT® / STAR® Workshop
BAT® (Boundary Awareness Training) and STAR® (Stop Threat and React) Workshops are now combined into a six-hour program where children 6 — 12 years old lean the basics of how to stay safe with strangers and with people they know. The Workshop emphasizes safety concepts when along, how to keep a safe distance from strangers, and how to strike and flee to safety, if necessary. The Workshop incorporates verbal strategies practiced in role-playing scenarios ranging from handling bullies to setting limits with adults who intend to compromise a child’s safety. Role-playing and practice against the padded mock attacker allow the child to lean both verbal and physical skills in dynamic and realistic scenarios.
Note: BAT® and STAR® programs can be customized and expanded to meet the needs and goals of schools, summer camps, and community centers.
See our book: Safe Zone: A Kid’s Guide to Personal Safety
FAQ’S REGARDING CLASSES FOR TEENS AND CHILDREN
What is "Personal Safety"?
We define personal safety in a broad context. Personal safety is external awareness of our environment, choices about how we behave, how we speak to others, and how we let others speakto us. In its simplest sense, it is the skills needed to set limits in situations that make us uncomfortable or are potentially dangerous. It includes how we feel about ourselves (self esteem, self efficacy, and confidence), how we relate to our bodies, and how to trust our instincts.
How do you teach personal safety skills to children?
Our educational model emphasizes concept-based learned reinforced by repetitive role-plays. We teach by positive reinforcement and learning through success. Simple safety rules are presented in a straightforward and understandable manner. All of the teaching material is age appropriate so students can easily learn the information. The Workshop curriculum follows the recommendations ofthe National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
How can this program lower children’s anxiety?
Giving children information about safety is part of our responsibility as adults. Education does not raise children’s anxiety; it actually can lower anxiety by providing them with a plan and teaching them self-reliance. Teaching self-defense is similar to teaching your children other safety skills, such as how to cross the street or how to use a kitchen knife. It is not necessary to discuss the details of being hit by a car or cut by a sharp knife to learn safe conduct, just as it is not necessary to discuss the details of child abuse or molestation to learn self defense.
SCHOOL PROGRAMS FOR TEENS AND CHILDREN
Parents and teachers report that the students who have completed our class are more relaxed, confident and easier to talk to. They notice that they are more willing to face challenge and change in their lives. The most ringing endorsements come from the students themselves. They feel less influenced by peer pressure, better able to assert themselves, and less intimidated about trying new things. Students find our programs exciting and fun because, instead of sitting through a lecture, they are up and moving throughout each session.
Promoting empowerment, self reliance, and leadership
Our workshops are designed to empower students and enhance their personal safety. Skills are taught using real life scenarios that recreate the type of challenges that children and teenagers are likely to encounter. Scenarios include:
Our approach to education emphasizes better communication skills as the foundation for personal safety. Students learn how to recognize and protect their emotional and physical integrity by practicing communication skills to express difficult thoughts and feelings. Students learn through success and gain confidence in their ability to handle themselves in challenging situations.
Teaching boundary setting skills
Our hands-on approach emphasizes practice in realistic role-playing scenarios. By rehearsing in a safe environment, students experience what it feels like to stand up for themselves in a wide variety of uncomfortable situations. They become comfortable and adept at saying, "No" when they mean no and saying, "Yes" when they mean yes.
Physical Boundaries with Strangers
Students learn how to:
Physical and Emotional Boundaries with People We Know
Students learn how to:
Transforming the school environment
We highly recommend offering training sessions(s) for faculty, administration, and parents. These workshops are critical because they enable the entire school community to use a common vocabulary to discuss the issues that affect young people.
SCHOOL PROGRAM MENU
Communication Skills
Boundary
Setting
Peer pressure (drugs, alcohol, risk taking)
Scapegoating, social cruelty, teasing
Relationships and dating
Health and Safety
Dating
violence
Preparation for travel, college, summer jobs
Bullying and hate and bias crimes
Personal Development
Confidence,
empowerment, assertiveness
Athletic cross training — performance under pressure
Stress and crisis management
Job interview and presentation skills
Leadership
Peer
education
Student leader training
Managing others (giving clear direction and feedback)
Team Building
Building
peer support systems
Enhancing group cohesion
Identifying and respecting others individuality and strengths
SCHOOL PROGRAMS AND HOW TO START
We are proud to say that our school programs continue to grow in scope and number of participating schools. Just as our corporate and community workshop programs are designed to suit any group’s needs, so are our school programs. There are many types of schedules available – from intensive one day workshops of three-to-six hours to a full semester of curriculum-based programming offered through physical education or health education departments.
Schools have registered fantastic reactions. The best results occur when all the students in a grade can be educated, along with parents and faculty. In that way, all members of the community have the same information and a common language to discuss difficult issues such as teasing, bullying, peer pressure, drug use, alcohol use, scapegoating, dating, and more. By training parents and faculty, we create a large number of positive adult role models to reinforce the lessons learned. We still think the best way to keep young people safe is for the adults in their lives to model positive, effective behavior.
To get started, talk to the decision-makers at the school – head of the parents association, the principal or headmaster/mistress, head of the physical education department, or health and lifestyles department. For lower and middle schools, suggest that they read The Safe Zone and Protecting the Gift, both wonderful books. The Safe Zone will provide the decision-makers with a good feel for how we approach the subject of personal safety and how we present information. Protecting the Gift is another excellent book for adults to read for their own education. It strongly recommends our children’s programs. The pricing for workshops is the same as the pricing for corporate and community group programs. We offer special pricing for lengthier programs and larger numbers of students.
SCHOOL CLIENTS
Barnard Women's Center · New York, NY
Birch Wathan Lennox · New York, NY
Blind Brook High School/ Ridge Street School · Rye Brook, NY
Bloomfield College · Bloomfield, NJ
The Brearley School · New York, NY
California Institute of Technology · Pasadena, CA
California Lutheran University · Thousand Oaks, CA
Calvery Christian Elementary School · CA
The Chapin School · New York, NY
Collier High School · Wickatunk, NJ
Colonial School District · Plymouth Meeting, PA
Columbia Business School · New York, NY
Columbia Medical School · New York, NY
Columbia Grammar School · New York, NY
Chestnut Hill College · Philadelphia, PA
The Dalton School · New York, NY
Drew University · Madison, NJ
Fordham University · New York, NY
The Garrison Forest School · Baltimore, MD
The Greenwich Academy · Greenwich, CT
Harrison High School/ LMK Middle School · Harrison, NY
Harvard Business Women's Alumni Assoc · New York, NY
Jewish Theological Seminary · New York, NY
The Kent Place School · Summit, NJ
King & Low-Heywood School · Stamford, CT
The Livingston Grammar School · Livingston, NJ
Loyola Law School · Los Angeles, CA
The Marlborough School · Hancock, CA
Marymount High School · Los Angeles, CA
Marymount School · New York, NY
Masters School · Dobbs Ferry, NY
Mission College · San Fernando, CA
Moorestown Friends School · M oorestown, NJ
New York University Law School · New York, NY
The Nightingale-Bamford School · New York, NY
Nyack High School · Nyack, NY
Occidental College · California
Packer Collegiate Institute · Brooklyn, NY
The Pennington School · Pennington, NJ
Pocantico School · Tarrytown, NY
The Reach Charter School · New York, NY
Santa Monica/Malibu School District · Santa Monica, CA
Scarsdale High School · Scarsdale, NY
Saint Bernard’s School · New York, NY
The Spence School · New York, NY
The Springside School · Philadelphia, PA
Stuart County Day School · Princeton, NJ
University of California · Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, CA
University of Redlands · California
University of Southern California · Los Angeles, CA
The Village Community School · New York, N Y
Villanova Law School · Pennsylvania
Westover School · Westover, CT
Westlake Middle School · Valhalla, NY
Yale Univeristy · New Haven, CT
ENDORSEMENTS OF OUR TEEN AND CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS
"One of the best features of the IMPACT programs is that kids are coached in recognizing and confronting inappropriate conduct — sometimes from adults they already know. They’re taught that they will be believed if they report such an incident and that other adults are on their side."
Instruction Power Play
New York Magazine
"Designed with the guidance of child psychologists and therapists, IMPACTclasses focus on instilling in children a healthy sense of boundaries, a respect for their own bodies and physical space through role playing which teaches them verbal skills, physical awareness, and avoidance techniques."
Being Prepared is the Best Defense
New York Family
"The IMPACT training brings many gifts, the most profound of which is the permanent, visible, quantifiable change that graduates experience. It comes from learning — deep in their cells — that no creature in nature is defenseless."
Gavin de Becker
Best selling author Protecting the Gift and The Gift of Fear
"Children are far more likely to be victimized by someone they know. For all the warnings we give about strangers, we rarely train our children how to handle a situation that involves a friend, relative or someone else they know and trust."
The Safe Zone
Los Angeles Children
HOW TO HOST A PROGRAM IN YOUR COMMUNITY
The following information outlines how you can bring this program to your community:
Option 1: Two Day Combined BAT and STAR Program (6 - 12 yrs old)
For $2500 plus travel expenses (airfare, per diem, car rental, transfers, and hotel or housing for 2 people) we will conduct a 6 hour program in two sessions of 3 hours each. The program can accommodate up to 16 people (coed or single sex.)
Option 2: One Day Introductory Program "Prepare Workshop" for teens and/or adults
For $1500.00 plus travel expenses (airfare, per diem, car rental, transfers, and hotel or housing for 2 people) we will conduct a 3 hour program. A 6 hour program is $2500. This program covers verbal skills, psychological strategy, and simple easy-to-learn techniques practiced against the padded mock attacker. The program can accommodate up to 35 people (men and women), each participant will have more hands-on experience if the group is limited to 16 - 20 participants.
One way to organize this initial workshop is to find a corporate or community sponsor who could cover some or all of the expenses. Another way to organize Workshops is to conduct more than one over a two, three or four day period. In that way the travel costs can be spread over the cost of more than one program.
Option 3: The 20 Hour Basics Class for teens and adults
For a total cost of $6,000.00 dollars plus travel expenses for three people, we will conduct a four or five day Basics personal safety program over two consecutive weekends (or any 10 day period). Enrollment is limited to 16 students.
During the week that instructors are in your community, you can run more than one of the above programs. This would help to defray the costs over more than one program. Your responsibilities would include locating space and registration of students.