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Safety First: The Safe Side Offers Engaging Tools to Teach Kids About Safety

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They say "necessity is the mother of invention," and no one proves it better than mother of two and former teacher Julie Clark. When Clark's first child was born, she sought out educational, entertaining videos to stimulate her little one's cognitive development. When she couldn't find any that met her high standards, she developed her own. Her invention turned into the multi-million dollar hit series Baby Einstein.

As her children grew, Clark's focus shifted. "My concerns for my children, as they become independent, revolve more around keeping them safe than anything else," she writes on the website of her new company, The Safe Side. "Like most parents, nothing is more important to me than protecting my kids from harm, and teaching them to be smart and safe if dangerous or difficult situations should arise."

Unable to find safety education materials that met her high standards, Clark again decided to develop her own. Partnering with John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted and a tireless advocate for children's safety, Clark conceived The Safe Side, a series of DVDs giving kids the knowledge they need to keep themselves out of harm's way.

"What my background as a classroom teacher and producer of Baby Einstein videos had taught me was an important lesson," writes Clark. "Kids will only watch and learn from something they enjoy."

Stranger Safety
In 2005, The Safe Side introduced its first DVD, Stranger Safety. Hosted by the super silly Safe Side Superchick, the DVD shows kids how to identify -- and avoid -- potential dangers. The DVD is geared toward kids as young as 4, with simple lessons that are easy to understand and remember presented through humorous vignettes featuring Safe Side Superchick and a cast of kids.

The main lesson of the DVD centers around the difference between a Safe Side Adult, a Don't Know, and a Kind of Know. A child's Safe Side Adult is typically a parent or guardian, but it's important to talk with your child and identify other Safe Side Adults whom you trust to care for your child when you're not around. A Don't Know is someone the child doesn't know at all, and a Kind of Know is someone the child is familiar with -- maybe a neighbor, friend of a friend, or the checker at the grocery store -- but who isn't on the list of Safe Side Adults you've agreed upon.

The DVD goes through several situations in which a Don't Know or Kind of Know might approach a child, including tricks they might play to get a child to come with them or give them personal information, what to do if the doorbell rings when a parent isn't around (don't answer it!), and what to do if a child gets separated from his Safe Side Adult in public. The lessons are illustrated through the engaging vignettes and reviewed several times to make sure kids understand them.

Internet Safety
In 2006, The Safe Side introduced a new and much needed safety DVD, Internet Safety. Geared toward kids 6 and older, this DVD is as much about educating parents as it is about educating kids. Once again starring Safe Side Superchick, Internet Safety introduces families to the potential dangers lurking on the Internet. From chat rooms to emails to pop-ups, kids and parents need to know that what you see is not always what you get on the Internet. Like Stranger Safety, Internet Safety uses humorous, engaging vignettes to hold kids' attention while delivering important safety messages about keeping personal information private and never agreeing to meet with anyone you've "met" on the web.

Using the Program
The Safe Side DVDs are designed as tools for parents and educators who want to introduce important safety lessons and open a dialogue with children -- and dialogue is a key component.

"We strongly encourage parents to sit down with their child and watch each video and talk about it," says Grace Yeager, general manager for The Safe Side. "In fact, we offer a family guide that's a free download for both products." Each resource guide, available free at The Safe Side website, includes an overview of the DVD, tips about how to most effectively use the program with your children, discussion questions, activities, games, role playing exercises, safety print-outs and much more.

In addition to the DVDs and resource guides, The Safe Side offers a Cool Tunes CD that reinforces the DVDs' hot tips through catchy, kid-friendly songs your kids will listen to -- and remember!

Julie Clark and John Walsh are among millions of parents who believe children have a right to live in a world that's safe. What makes them unique is their dedication to developing the tools we need to make that ideal a reality.

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