SAFE PLACES – Click HERE for safe places in Lakewood


All children need to be physically and emotionally safe wherever they are — from the actual places of families, schools, neighborhoods and communities to the virtual places of media. They also need a healthy balance between structured, supervised activities and unstructured time.

It’s important for children to be safe. But safe places alone are not enough. It is equally important for children’s development that these places engage them actively and constructively.

According to Every Child, Every Promise:

  • Only 37% of children and youth experience this Promise
  • Between one-fourth and one-third of all young people “never” or only “sometimes” feel safe at school and in their communities
  • Only four in 10 young people participate in high-quality activities that teach them needed skills, how to form lasting relationships with others, and how to make big decisions
  • Less than half of parents of children under 18 say that affordable, high-quality after-school activities are available in their communities

Learn more about our National Action Strategies to bring more Promises to 15 million children in five years.

Strategies that Work

  1. For 0 to 5 Years
  2. For 6 to 10 Years
  3. For 11 to 14 Years
  4. For 15 to 18 Years

For 0 to 5 Years^

Top Six Actions

1.   Make sure that your meeting place is “child proofed” against open electrical plugs, dangerous materials, unlocked firearms, medicines and drugs, etc.

2.   When a child is scared, frightened or anxious, be reassuring and help him/her feel safer.

3.   Identify a place where the child feels safe.   Personalize it.

4.   Tell and/or show children daily that they are safe with you. Show this through active listening and validation of their feelings.

5.   Work with parents/caregivers to help them access safe, supervised, quality childcare.

6.   Observe whether children in your group arrive in car seats and if they are buckled in. If a child does not arrive in a car seat or is not buckled in, talk with that child’s parent about your safe place initiative. Help parents/caregivers secure car seats, if necessary.

Additional Actions to Consider

  • Read the rules of the program out loud so each child knows boundaries for his or her behavior.
  • Give a task to each child that is important for the functioning of the group.
  • If a child leaves your group, encourage parents/caregivers to get the child into another group at a different not-for-profit organization.
  • Ask the parents/caregivers of your children to suggest names of other children who could benefit from your group.
  • Prepare projects several times a week for each child that they can finish in thirty to sixty minutes. Project may be done with other children or alone.
  • Talk with children about what is safe.

For 6 to 10 Years^

Top Six Actions

1.   Help children who are having conflicts work through them by labeling feelings, finding appropriate ways to express themselves and getting their needs addressed. Use age-appropriate language and role playing.

2.   Ask the children in your group if they always wear their seat belts in the car. If any do not, talk with parents/caregivers about the importance of wearing seat belts for safety.

3.   Ask the children in your group if they have ever seen a gun. Listen carefully to the responses and note any discussion indicating the availability of, or an unusual fascination with, guns. If you think one of the children needs attention, follow your organization’s procedures.

4.   Make sure that each child knows what to do in an emergency and knows your community’s emergency numbers.

5.   Have children identify safe places in their neighborhood.

6.   Work with parents/caregivers to find safe, supervised, quality care during nonschool hours and in the summer.

Additional Actions to Consider

  • Assign each child in your group a task important to the functioning of the group.
  • Ask the parents/caregivers of your children to name other children who could benefit from your group.
  • If a child leaves your group, ask why. Ask if you can help him/her get into  another group at a different not-for-profit organization.
  • Prepare projects for each child to do several times a week either alone or with other children.
  • Ask children about their hobbies and interests. Let them know about other  activities in the community that match their interests.
  • Have a place or some materials that belong  to each child. This place or object should  have their name on it, if at all possible.  Allow the children to decorate their spaces and materials.
  • Ask the children who ride bikes or skate whether they wear helmets. If any do not,
    talk with their parents/caregivers and help them get one.

For 11 to 14 Years^

Top Six Actions

1.   Ask youth where they feel safe in their community and why. Stress open and honest discussion.

2.   Look for signs of violence in the youth in your group. If you think any of them has a problem with violence, consult your organization for recommendations on how to help.

3.   Incorporate conflict resolution and/or violence prevention activities in your programming. Help youth find suitable ways to express frustration and deal with disappointment or insult.

4.   Work with youth to develop rules of behavior and consequences.

5.   Have youth research and develop a list of activities to do after school. Help them sign up for these safe, structured activities during nonschool hours.

6.   Create an environment that is physically and emotionally safe for the youth in your group.

Additional Actions to Consider

  • Give each young person a responsibility important to the functioning of the group.
  • Ask youth to suggest the names of others who could benefit from your group.
  • Plan a project that involves group members making presentations on safety with younger
    children.
  • Host a special meeting to discuss safe and unsafe places in the community. Ask youth
    to invite their parents/caregivers to this discussion.
  • Prepare projects for each young person that last several weeks and can be done with others or by themselves.

For 15 to 18 Years^

Top Six Actions

1.   Have the entire group decide on program rules, norms and consequences for misconduct.

2.   Hold special conflict resolution and/or peer mediation sessions to teach youth to handle conflict without violence.

3.   Look for signs of violence among the youth in your group. If you think one of the youth has a problem with violence, consult your organization’s policy on how to handle this.

4.   Ask youth where they feel safe in their community. Emphasize the importance of telling adults about safety concerns. Ask them to identify the problems behind these conditions and how to make their community safer. A group project could develop out of the discussion.

5.   Teach independent living skills. Offer opportunities to practice these skills.

6.   Provide guidance on year-round, safe and structured activities at school and in the community.

Additional Actions to Consider

  • Give each youth a responsibility important to the functioning of the group.
  • Ask youth to suggest others who could benefit from your group.
  • Provide short-term activities and long-term projects such as drama club, video club, etc. to enable them to express their safety concerns and design creative solutions.