)
Kid safety is an important, yet often difficult topic of discussion between parents and children. The Safe Side's "Safe Side Super-Chick" is a decidedly zany host who successfully combines slapstick humor with serious, practical safety tips for kids. "Safe Side Super-Chick" breaks the population down into three quickly discernable categories: "Safe Side Adults" that kids know well and can always trust to keep them safe, "Don't Knows" like the mail carrier or the lady at the park and "Sorta Knows" like a coach or a schoolmate's parent. As "Safe Side Super-Chick" interacts with "Don't Knows" and "Sorta Knows", she offers seven specific safety tips to keep kids safe and, with the help of real kids, details simple, concrete actions and phrases that empower kids in a variety of potentially dangerous situations. Best of all, the presentation is never scary, but always extremely funny--that means that kids ages 2 to 10 will actually enjoy learning about safety. Kudos to Julie Clark (creator of Baby Einstein) and John Walsh (host of America's Most Wanted) for creating a safety video that's highly entertaining, informative, and practical. --Tami Horiuchi
A message from John Walsh: I'm the host of a television show that I wish wasn't needed. But it is. Thankfully, 38 missing children have been recovered by our work at "America's Most Wanted." In 1981, the lives of my wife Reve and I were changed forever. Our beautiful son Adam was abducted from a mall in a nice area of South Florida. Sadly, two weeks into the biggest search for a child ever in Florida, our son was found murdered. In my quest to find justice and fight back for victims, I lobbied Congress to change the laws and to change how police search for missing children. I'm proud to say that the movement I started is still going strong. There's a national organization dedicated to helping children (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) and now this country and its media are beginning to understand that our children need to be informed about how to stay safe. In 1981 not much was known about child abduction and exploitation. Parents knew very little and, tragically, children knew even less. Today we're proud of the awareness that children have about the dangers that face them. Children see images everywhere of kidnappings and exploitation. We only need to think about what we've seen in the past year--pedophiles in the clergy, Internet predators, and others who are in positions to take advantage of children's trust in them--to know that kids are still being victimized at an alarming rate. I hope that's about to change. As a crime fighter and host of a popular TV program that has saved lives, I'm proud to be teaming up with a woman who knows how to teach children. Kids want to know what to do, and parents need to be prepared. Like me, Julie Clark is a parent who cares. She has a proven track record of teaching kids. Her passion and experience make this series of safety videos for children something that parents and kids will want to watch. Now parents and kids will do what I've been doing for more than 23 years--they'll fight back.
