[lotusdebi]

We had a negative experience at the first radKids class we attended last night. So negative, in fact, that we won't be returning for the remaining four classes. The instructors decided that it was appropriate to show news clips and have discussions about specific abducted and murdered children. They also talked about the sex offender registry, and displayed some pages showing local sex offenders on the large screen in the conference room. They seemed invested in scaring the people in the room with stories of abduction and murder. It wasn't at all age-appropriate, and seemed more suited for inducing nightmares than any sort of education.

I'm wondering if anyone here has enrolled their children in a radKids course, and if other instructors used similar methods. The college catalog class summary was vague, but certainly didn't include anything about showing young children news videos. I haven't yet found anything on the radKids website saying that this was something that instructors are expected to share, but I haven't read it all yet.

I wrote letters to the radKids organization and to the community college where this particular class was held, expressing my dismay at the way the material was handled. I hope that it will be changed, but I don't see myself signing either kid up for the class again. The instructors were police officers who didn't seem to have any training in child development, and were far too interested in scaring the room of kids for me to ever be comfortable with their teaching methods.

So, is this the norm for radKids classes?

 

[aprons_and_acorns]

That sounds awful!

 

[lotusdebi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aprons_and_acorns That sounds awful!

It was awful. I feel bad because I told a few neighbors about the course, and one signed up, hoping it would help her son with neighborhood bullying issues. In the past, I've met and talked with the woman in charge of the children's programs at the college, and she's a terrific, caring woman. I hope that she simply wasn't aware of the inappropriate content of the class, and will work to have it changed.
I was still angry and agitated about the experience this morning, and ended up taking half a Calms Forte to calm down. I'm not a believer in sheltering children, but I definitely think that young children shouldn't be exposed to news clips about violence against children, or sex offender registries.

 

[MCR]

What is the radKids supposed to do? I've never heard of it.

 

[BellinghamCrunchie]

So this is supposed to be a class for rad kids and their parents; have I got that right?

If I'm understanding correctly, it sounds like they're trying to scare or shock the children and the parents into changing their behaviors, so they don't end up like the criminals presented? Is that right?

If so, it makes absolutely zero therapeutic sense.

First, RAD behaviors aren't healed through threats - that makes things worse - they are healed through aggressive, consistent, and continuous attachment-promoting behaviors by the caregivers.

Second, RAD kids are attracted by power over others. It sounds like the class modelled for them the exact scary, threatening, dangerous people they would love to be perceived as themselves.

No RAD program I've ever heard of uses those techniques.

 

[lotusdebi]

Radkids isn't for kids with reactive attachment disorder. It's for kids to learn about how to be safe, from stranger abduction especially, but also in other ways. Here's the website: http://www.radkids.org/
I agree with the premise of the class. I just entirely disagree with the way these instructors decided to teach it.

 

[MCR]

If it's supposed to teach kids how to be safe, I'm not sure how those shock tactics are supposed to work. It seems a bit overkill. Plus traumatizing for any kids who were not prepared to see such videos.