Program info:

Research and evidence-based

Research about personal safety programs for children tell us that these programs…

do not make children unnecessarily scared and anxious.

One concern that parents and educators may have about school-based prevention programs that try to reduce child victimization is that they may cause fear and anxiety for children. Research demonstrates that this is not the case.1

Efforts have been made to ensure children/youth have been set up for success when participating in the Kids in the Know Program. Students are engaged in learning through fun, interactive, activity-based lessons that are not based on fear. Lessons are age-appropriate and help build on a child’s self-esteem at every level of the educational process.

can increase the chances a victimized child will disclose abuse.

Survivors of child abuse have shared that if they had received education about child abuse and disclosure during childhood, they might have disclosed the abuse.2 Research supports this idea: School-based prevention programs can increase the chances a child will disclose past or current victimization and increase children’s intentions to tell a safe adult if they are victimized,13 especially when programs use positive, empowering messaging and create supportive environments.4

The Kids in the Know Program helps empower children to disclose. The program teaches children how to identify a safe adult in their lives and has them practice disclosing unhealthy incidents to their safe adult, such as boundary-breaking behaviours and abuse situations. The Kids in the Know Program also discusses how abuse experiences can create very conflicting feelings for a child, especially when an offender is an important person in a child’s life, and reminds children that it isn’t their fault if they have been victimized.

can increase children’s safety skills and knowledge.

There is considerable research showing that school-based child abuse prevention programs can increase children’s self-protection skills and behaviours.13 These programs can also increase children’s knowledge about child abuse,345 especially when the programs are age-appropriate.45

The Kids in the Know Program helps build a child’s safety competence and safety confidence. Lessons also help increase children’s ability to recognize and avoid potentially dangerous situations.

are more effective if repeated over time.

Survivors of child abuse and researchers agree that one lesson about child abuse prevention is not enough.2456 For instance, one meta-analysis found that children gain more knowledge about child abuse from programs that are long-lasting or have multiple sessions.3

Each lesson in The Kids in the Know Program prepares students for learning by drawing on their past experiences, thereby activating prior knowledge. It also allows for the scaffolding of new concepts. Lessons are visited in multiple sessions, year after year, from kindergarten through Grade 12.

are more effective when they use interactive learning approaches.

Research indicates that children learn more from school-based child abuse prevention programs that have interactive learning approaches,46 such as vignettes,137 puppets,3 games and quizzes,3 and role playing.7 Survivors of child abuse also view these as important components of school-based prevention programs.2

The Kids in the Know Program incorporates multiple interactive learning tools that actively engage children in their learning.

are more effective when they involve parents.

Research6 and survivors of child abuse2 underscore the importance of involving parents in school-based abuse prevention programs, which can strengthen children’s self-protection skills.3

The Kids in the Know Program allows both teachers and parents to adapt the lesson plans and activities to meet the individual needs of children. Each lesson comes with take-home activities, so parents and educators work together with children to make safety strategies an integral part of their everyday lives.

  1. 1 Walsh, K., Zwi, K., Woolfenden, S., & Shlonsky, A. (2015). School-based education programmes for the prevention of child sexual abuse. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2015(4), CD004380. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD004380.pub3 ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

  2. 2 Gubbels, J., Assink, M., Prinzie, P., & van der Put, C. E. (2021). What works in school-based programs for child abuse prevention? The perspectives of young child abuse survivors. Social Sciences, 10(10), 404. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10100404 ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

  3. 3 Gubbels, J., van der Put, C. E., M Stams, G.-J. J., & Assink, M. (2021). Effective components of school-based prevention programs for child abuse: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 24(3), 553–578. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-021-00353-5 ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

  4. 4 Lu, M., Barlow, J., Meinck, F., & Neelakantan, L. (2023). Unpacking school-based child sexual abuse prevention programs: A realist review. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 24(4), 2067–2081. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380221082153 ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

  5. 5 Lu, M., Barlow, J., Walsh, K., & Wu, Y. (2022). School-based child sexual abuse interventions: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Research on Social Work Practice, 33(4), 390–412. https://doi.org/10.1177/10497315221111393 ↩ ↩ ↩

  6. 6 World Health Organization. (2022). What works to prevent online violence against children? Executive summary. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240062085 ↩ ↩ ↩

  7. 7 Celik, P. (2024). The effectiveness of school-based child sexual abuse prevention programmes among primary school-aged children: A systematic review. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 7, 100348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2024.100348 ↩ ↩