Building Protective Factors from Early Childhood to Adolescence

Training description

Drawing on Safe Strong & Free’s experience of delivering prevention education to children and young people aged 4–18 in Scotland, we want to show how simple, age-appropriate messages introduced in early childhood can establish foundations for lifelong safety and wellbeing. These foundational messages are revisited and reinforced as children grow, supporting their understanding of bullying, online safety, healthy relationships and other emerging risks.

Through practical examples, children’s voices and learning from our University of Stirling evaluation, we aim to demonstrate how prevention programs can evolve, remain relevant and respond to children’s needs.
We also want to highlight the essential role of parents, educators and communities in creating protective environments, recognizing that responsibility for children’s safety always rests with adults. Ultimately, our goal is to inspire an international audience to recognize prevention education as an ongoing process rather than a one-off intervention, and to consider how these principles could be adapted within their own settings to help prevent harm before it occurs.