(Seguin) — A new program aims to make the world a little bit safer for local children. The radKIDS program is designed to empower children, and help them to protect themselves from the dangers of life. The national program is new to Guadalupe County schools, and it’s being made possible thanks to a partnership between the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office, the Guadalupe County Attorneys Office, the Guadalupe County Children’s Advocacy and schools across the area.
Christy Williams, the executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Center, says they’ve been looking at getting trained for radKIDS for quite some time.
“radKIDS is a child empowerment program in safety education. It’s a national program that teaches children that they are special and nobody has a right to hurt them and that if somebody does try to hurt them, that they can do something about it. They can stop them. They can go and tell. They don’t have a right to hurt themselves either and because nobody has a right to hurt them, it’s not their fault if something happens and they can tell,” said Williams.
Williams wanted to bring the program to the local community, but it required a funding source, and that’s where Guadalupe County Sheriff Arnold Zwicke comes into the story.
Sheriff Zwicke was also looking for a way to have his deputies get more involved in local schools. He was looking to start an Adopt-A-School program that would allow law enforcement officers to work directly with schools across the county.
“I shared this thought with Christy at the advocacy center and Christy brought to me that she had just came back from the radKIDS class. (She) explained it to me. We talked about it a little bit more and said this is something we need that will certainly be the right program for our school districts to partner law enforcement with the kids and get out ahead of some of these situations and save these kids. Our kids are our greatest resources and we need to take care of these kids,” said Zwicke.
Sheriff Zwicke used a portion of his forfeiture funds to pay for the radKIDS program, as did Guadalupe County Attorney Dave Willborn. Robin Villareal, who works in Willborn’s office as a paralegal, says that Willborn was eager to help with the program.
“The county attorney was involved because the sheriff approached him with what Christy had told him and just said it was something that he believed in and we did need some money to get it off the ground and to get it going here and so we were able to use some of our seizure money to donate into this program to get it off the ground and get it going here,” said Villarreal.
Williams says with the funding now secure, the radKIDS program is coming to students across the area. She says the whole idea behind radKIDS is to teach children how they can have a voice, and they can use their own God given abilities if they encounter a dangerous situation or individual.
“Our goal for between now and the end of the school year is to have every single second grader in Seguin ISD, Navarro ISD, Southwest Prep, Lifegate and hopefully Marion ISD trained in radKIDS and then next year, we are going to hit two classes and we are going to keep building it on to that so that eventually, every single elementary kid in this area is a radKID,” said Williams.
The radKIDS program really focuses on helping children understand that they can help themselves during some of these dangerous situations. It’s not the kind of lessons that we taught our kids in the past, but it’s something that must be done now given the challenges and experiences that we have encountered recently.
“We tell our children a lot of things to try to keep them safe. We give them dos and don’ts and we try to keep them in situations that will keep them safe but really, they are not with us all the time. They have to go to school. They have to go to other places. We have to go to work or we have to go to the store so there are times when kids are by themselves and they are the only ones that can protect themselves and so giving them resources and the critical thinking skills necessary to do that as a child but then as an adult because all of these things that they learn through this program will then help them to be safer adults. Those things are all so necessary in keeping children safe without scaring them,” said Williams.
Empowerment is key to the success of the radKIDS program. It’s website shares stories about children who went through the program, who were able to fend off attacks while they were walking home from school. It’s empowering kids to take control of their surroundings, and training on how to best react to certain dangers.
“I think what is really awesome about this program is that we are training children not just what they should and shouldn’t do but thinking through situations, maybe even planning their route home from school if they are a walking child from school in a way that they are taking the most safe route possible — being aware of their surroundings and then actually teaching through physical movement to react and to not freeze and what to do when something happens. So, the rad in radKIDS is actually resisting aggression defensively. It’s not teaching kids how to fight. It’s teaching kids how to safely get away. It includes bullying prevention, physical abuse, sexual abuse, abductions which is a really exciting piece for all of us because in Seguin even, we’ve had children who have had attempted abductions or abductions and so I think really for us, those of us that see these cases and these kids every single day and we know that sometimes children endure long periods of abuse — if we can empower children to know that they can do something about it, they can say something to someone, they can react in someway that will keep them safe then hopefully, children in our community will be much safer,” said Williams.
The program’s goal is similar to what so many school districts have already put into place. The rash of school shootings, over the years, has forced districts, like the Seguin ISD, to have plans and policies in place to protect children. Kirsten Legore, executive director of students services in the Seguin ISD, says the district has been conducting ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) active shooter trainings at each of its campuses. She says the district was thrilled to hear that they would also now be able to add radKIDS training to its toolbox.
“Seguin ISD was really the lucky recipient as everybody was talking about bringing in this program into the county as well as the other school districts within the county. This folded in very nicely with all the safety protocols that we’ve put into place where we really tried to teach not only the staff within Seguin ISD but also the students of what they would do in some kind of emergency or catastrophe rather than just stand there and be scared. What we’ve really learned is that education is really the key to move kids past fear and that actually applies to adults as well. So, practicing and going through training and helping kids really think through what would you do and how would you do it and then let’s act it out in drills,” said Legore.
The school shootings and the other active shooter events that have occurred around the country and around the world, have changed how schools have to approach safety. They have to do a better job of controlling outside access to their campuses, and they also have to really start training students and staff on what to do during these situations. Legore says the radKIDS program will fit in perfectly with the training that’s already been done her in local schools.
“A lot of these safety protocols are in place because of bad things that happened in the world and a lot of those bad things are scary. They are scary to adults. So, think about how scary that is to a little kid who is looking at the TV and seeing something bad happening — bad happening to kids his age. So we can either sit back and let there be scary or you can actually confront it and say ‘what are we going to do to help kids and our staff and people in the community deal with something if it were scary?’ So, really going through that training is super important. This was just something else that we could add to what we already have in place with the ALICE and the active shooter protocols so it’s perfect timing really because we have rolled that out. We are in process of making sure that everybody new within the school district is trained. But, people who have been here for years, they know those protocols. We’ve been doing those drills and so they are part of the standard is now within schools,” said Legore.
The world has always been a potentially dangerous place, but we do a better job today recognizing the dangers facing our children. Sheriff Zwicke and Villarreal says that’s one of the many reasons why the sheriff’s office and the county attorney’s office teamed up together to make sure a program like radKIDS were available here in Guadalupe County.
“Our children today are exposed to more stuff than I was as a child. You look at the garbage on TV. You look at what’s on these cell phones, the internet — all this stuff — everything else that goes on. We are just another tool in the toolbox to protect these kids. Kids are supposed to be loved and spoiled and not victims and our goal is to do just that, said Zwicke.
“These kids are able to have a voice of their own and make these outcries on this abuse — any type of abuse — it actually helps our office because they are going to law enforcement, they are making these outcries and we are able to get the bad guys off the street. We are able to indict them, prosecute them, put them to trial and get them off of our streets,” said Villarreal.
The radKIDS program officially started Monday at most schools in Guadalupe County. Southwest Prep will begin in April. Parents are being reminded that the program will be taught to second graders over a three week period, and students have in-class and some homework assignments. They’ll also come home with radKIDS workbooks and activities that will engage the whole family.
Williams says fortunately the start up costs for the program were covered, but she says if people are willing to donate, there are additional expenses that can be covered. Those extra dollars could also help to eventually expand the program to other grade levels. Those who would like to financially support the program, can contact the Children’s Advocacy Center.
“We actually could use sponsors for the workbooks, the family manuals that go home with the children. Every single child that goes through the radKIDS program will go home on the very first day of class with a family manual. They will also have wristbands that they use in practicing their physical resistance to violence moves. So, we will have those that they practice with and then when they graduate — there’s actually a graduation ceremony at the end. They will get a radKIDS wristband. They will get certificates and hopefully some graduation parties with refreshments. So, those are all kinds of things that haven’t really been fully vetted and covered yet. So somebody who is interested in sponsoring a graduation ceremony or sponsoring family manuals for the kids or wristbands, that would be greatly appreciated,” said Williams.
By the time the program ends, students are expected to receive a child identification kit and wristband. They are also expected to have developed personal plans for what to do in different types of emergencies or dangerous situations. More information about the radKIDS program can be found online at www.radKIDS.org.