Child Assault Prevention Program
In light of the recent information about a young teen being approached by a person in a car, I thought I’d explain a little about the CAP program and how it works here in Newton. The program is divided into three sections: bullying, stranger safety, and inappropriate touching by a known person. Volunteers use a combination of interactive discussion and role playing to present strategies for children to use to keep themselves safe, to empower them. We use the mantra “safe, strong and free.”
Volunteers go through about 25 hours of training in the program before we go into the classroom. We are required to memorize a script that is used in the program nationwide. The entire program usually lasts a little over an hour, with time afterward for students to meet individually with volunteers to discuss their specific concerns, questions or comments. We do this in Newton in grades K, 2, and 5.
The reason that I feel so strongly about this program is that it reinforces information that is given to the children from other sources, and touches on subjects that many parents feel too anxious or uncomfortable with to discuss. The language about rights, and keeping safe, strong, and free is very powerful and useful for all the CAP topics.
The CAP program is organized and funded by the Newton Community Service Center and the elementary schools that have the program. The organizers and volunteers are all wonderful people with different backgrounds–from retired teachers to new parents. One thing we all have in common is a very strong desire to empower children and to keep them safe, strong, and free.