What to Do When You Feel Unsafe: A Kids' Action Plan

📚 Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• 🛡️ Identify situations that may make them feel unsafe.
• 🗣️ Understand the importance of communicating their feelings to trusted adults.
• 🏃 Learn practical strategies for staying safe.
• 💪 Build confidence in their ability to handle potentially unsafe situations.

🖍️ Materials

• 📝 Worksheet (provided below)
• 🖍️ Crayons or colored pencils
• 🫂 List of trusted adults (pre-prepared by teacher/guardian)
• 🖼️ Scenario cards (provided below)

☀️ Warm-up (5 mins)

Activity: "Feelings Check-In"

• 😊 Ask students to share a time they felt safe and a time they felt unsafe (without going into detail about the unsafe situation if they don't want to).
• 👍 Discuss how feeling safe makes us feel (e.g., calm, happy, secure) and how feeling unsafe makes us feel (e.g., scared, anxious, worried).

🧑‍🏫 Main Instruction

Part 1: Identifying Unsafe Situations (10 mins)

• ❓ Discuss different scenarios that could make someone feel unsafe (e.g., being lost, being approached by a stranger, seeing someone getting hurt).
• 🎭 Use scenario cards to present different situations and ask students to identify whether the situation is safe or unsafe and why.

Part 2: Talking to Trusted Adults (10 mins)

• 🗣️ Emphasize the importance of talking to a trusted adult when feeling unsafe.
• 🫂 Discuss who trusted adults are (e.g., parents, teachers, guardians, relatives).
• 📞 Role-play different scenarios where a child might need to talk to a trusted adult. Practice assertive communication.

Part 3: Staying Safe – Action Plan (15 mins)

• 🛑 Teach the "Stop, Walk, Talk" method:
• 🛑 Stop: If someone makes you feel uncomfortable, say "STOP!"
• 🚶 Walk: Walk away from the situation.
• 🗣️ Talk: Tell a trusted adult what happened.
• 🗺️ Discuss the importance of knowing your surroundings and identifying safe places (e.g., a friend's house, a store, a police station).
• 📱 If safe and age-appropriate, discuss the use of a phone to call for help (911 or a trusted adult).

📝 Assessment

Worksheet Activity (10 mins)

• ✏️ Students complete a worksheet where they identify safe and unsafe situations and describe what they would do in each scenario.
• 🤝 Review the answers as a class and discuss any questions or concerns.