Gold Coast company Newell is helping keep kids safe through our Learn to be safe with Emmy program. Newell have been a long-term corporate supporter of Act for Kids, providing substantial ongoing funding to help us deliver our protective behaviours program to thousands of Gold Coast children.
Act for Kids Learn to be safe with Emmy program consists of one-hour workshops run in grade one classes for five weeks. It teaches children to understand when they feel safe and unsafe, identify trusted adults they can talk to, and what to do when they feel unsafe.
Darren Newell, Director of Consulting Engineers Newell, said supporting Act for Kids Learn to be safe with Emmy program is a social responsibility the company is proud to be a part of.
There is nothing more important to us than teaching children they have the right to feel safe and protected by adults. We see this program as providing an essential part of a child’s education. Our hope is that one day it will form part of the curriculum.
We are proud to have supported Act for Kids in running the Learn to be safe with Emmy program across Gold Coast schools since 2007, with approximately 9,000 Gold Coast children having completed the program, Darren Newell said.
Dr Kaye Pickering, South Queensland Regional Director at Act for Kids, said through Newells generosity we are able to continue running this program once again this year across Gold Coast primary schools.
We conducted a pilot research project with Griffith University in 2012 and the results showed that after the program, children were significantly better at identifying situations that were unsafe and what they should do if they felt unsafe.
Feedback from teachers, students and parents is very positive kids retain the knowledge and feel empowered. Parents understand what their kids are learning because they have homework they do together.
Thanks to Newells corporate donation and additional grant funding, the program resources have been updated to include parent resources, child handouts and more scenarios within the classroom resources, Dr Pickering said.