Michael D. Wilson Symposium Day

SAFE (Safety Awareness Family Education)
Presenters: Elle Knight & Katriel M. Ramu (absent)

This presentation was part of a project for Health Education Planning Class (HEA 411), planned and implemented by Elle Knight and Katriel M. Ramu. This project is aimed to empower kindergarten students at the Phillips, ME elementary school to be able to identify and deal with dangerous situations.

Ms. Knight presented a well prepared PowerPoint presentation to a full room. SAFE was created using the precede/proceed model, the precede portion is encompassed in phase's 1-5 and proceed was encompassed in phases 6-9. The project implementation will begin with assessments, interviews and a pilot test to rate the effectiveness of the program. Local, state, and national data was covered. The national data was staggering; in 2002 a total of 797,500 abductions or missing cases were reported (2,100 per day). Of all these reports only 115 were abducted by a stranger! The others knew their abductor in some way, whether it be family or acquaintance. A statement of need was presented, it was quite obvious that there is a need as shown by the data.

The program will include a workbook and the "Stranger Safety: The Safe Side" DVD. This DVD makes learning about stranger safety fun and non-scary for kids. The program will be implemented over a week at the elementary school with a certificate and graduation at the end.

Overall, I was very pleased with the presentation. It was very clear that the presenters worked hard on this program as well as the presentation. They showed the need for the program and its potential positive impact on the local group.

At a future symposium day, I don't know what I would be able to present, I would have to think long and hard on it. I know I would like to present, possibly at the 2008 symposium day.