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Assault prevention program moves to Needham, looking for help

Reprinted with permission from the Needham Times
September 8, 2005
By Franceen Shaughnessy/ Staff Writer

It's been a part of Needham's elementary schools for years, but it's never had a town address - until now. Formerly based in Newton, the Child Assault Prevention Program recently set up shop at the Needham Community Council and is looking for volunteers to help run its workshops being employed at the town's elementary schools. The violence preventative curriculum intends to educate children to recognize potentially dangerous situations as well as teaching them skills that they can use to handle those incidents, said Gail Sommer, director of Child Assault Prevention Program. "It's not the child's responsibility to protect themselves. It's still the adults. But part of that is to give them the skills" to handle potentially dangerous situations, she said. Colleen Schaller of the Needham Exchange Club said for the past 12 years, the group has been supporting the program in the town's schools. The exchange club supports the program financially, but it also makes it "possible for us to go into the schools," Sommer said. "We decided we'd like to become a more Needham-orientated based program," Schaller said, referring to the program's move to the town and its recent affiliation with the Needham Community Council. The Needham Community Council is acting as the programs umbrella agency and providing space, she said. Sandra Robinson, director of the Community Council, said she saw the council as "a perfect fit." "It goes along with our mission to enhance the lives of residents of Needham," she said. Robinson said most people know the council for its charitable role it plays with the elderly. The council was looking to branch out to other groups, she said. "We can reach other families in Needham [through this program] to let them know what the Needham Community Council is all about," she said. But it's not just the move that has the program busy. Sommer said she's looking for 12 volunteers who can commit six hours a month for the upcoming school year. Volunteers help run the classroom workshops. Three volunteers teach the kids strategies such as being assertive, saying "no," asking a friend for help and telling a trusted adult in a 90-minute workshop, Sommer said. The strategies are used in topics revolving around bullying, stranger safety and sexual assault by a known adult. The volunteers role play different scenarios, Sommer said. Some of the scenarios are "unsuccessful" from the point of view of the victim and some are "successful." The volunteers always play the victim and perpetrators, she said. A discussion follows where the kids point out skills that could have been used in the unsuccessful scenarios, Sommer said. A role play is done again where the skills are employed, she said. During the bullying and stranger safety scenarios, she said, students can volunteer to participate as the victim's helpful friend. Volunteers conduct a review time with the kids at the end where by students have the opportunity to go out into the hallway to voice privately any concerns or questions, Sommer said. "We take confidentiality very seriously," she said. "When we train volunteers, that's a big piece of it." Volunteers must undergo between 21 and 24 hours worth of training over a course of days and evenings, Sommer said. College degrees are not necessary, she said. The training gives enough of the skills needed by the volunteers to deliver a curriculum that teaches children that they have the right to be safe, strong and free, she said. "All of the volunteers have good interpersonal skills, but they also see themselves as a child advocate," she said. Needham resident Joanne Wills has been volunteering with the program for the past three or four years. The training is really helpful, she said. It's not a big commitment. It's also a satisfying experience, she said. For more information or to become a volunteer for the Child Assault Prevention Program, call Gail Sommer at 781-444-2415.