Keeping our kids safe, starts with what we know.

This may feel like a bit of a shift from what I typically share here, but to me, Clarity has always been about more than our own personal growth. It’s also about creating space for important conversations, becoming more aware of what’s happening around us, and using what we know to take meaningful action.

Recently, one of those conversations has become especially personal.

Having a fifth grader of my own has changed the way I think about what it means to keep our kids safe.

When many of us were growing up, safety conversations were pretty straightforward: “Don’t talk to strangers,” be careful around people you don’t know, and, of course, stay away from the mysterious white van with no windows. That was our version of “stranger danger,” and it shaped how we thought about keeping ourselves safe.

We know now that keeping kids safe was never as simple as avoiding strangers. What has changed is the world our kids are navigating. They’re connected earlier, spending time in online spaces we never had, and facing situations that don’t always fit the picture of risk many of us grew up with. Our conversations with them need to evolve too.

That’s one of the reasons the work of C.A.S.T. (Citizens Against Sex Trafficking) has become especially personal to me.

I met one of their directors at a Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce event. As we talked about the work they’re doing and the education they’re bringing into schools, I kept thinking about our own community and how powerful prevention can be when we give kids information before they find themselves in a situation they don’t know how to navigate.

I also started thinking about how I could help. I’m not the expert who should be teaching this material. They have trained people doing that work. What I can do is help create connections and engagement between parents, schools, community resources, and the people who have important information to share. That has become the heart of my role as a Community Partner with C.A.S.T.

It’s also why this partnership feels so connected to Clarity. Clarity began from my belief in creating space to listen, learn, ask better questions, and move forward with greater intention. Most often, that shows up through the experiences I create for women. But I’ve always believed that clarity extends beyond our own lives and into how we show up for the people and communities around us. Sometimes that means connecting people with information, resources, and conversations that can make a meaningful difference.

C.A.S.T.’s prevention education is already reaching students in our Stillwater middle schools and high school through Power Over Predators, and this year that work is expanding into our fifth-grade classrooms through Speak Up Be Safe.

As the mom of a fifth grader, one of my first questions was what this type of education actually looks like for a child his age. I’ll admit, my own assumptions went somewhere that felt far too heavy for an elementary-aged child. What I learned is that the curriculum focuses on things kids can understand and use in their everyday lives: personal boundaries, safe and unsafe situations, bullying and cyberbullying, recognizing warning signs, identifying safe adults, and knowing what to do when something doesn’t feel right.

Because today, risk doesn’t always look like a stranger in a van. It can begin with someone a child knows, through a game or an app, with a request to keep a secret, or with small boundaries being crossed over time. Our kids need language for the world they’re actually growing up in, and as parents, we need education too.

On November 10, I’m helping C.A.S.T. host a parent event for families in the Stillwater Area Public Schools community. The evening will include a focused demonstration of the fifth-grade Speak Up Be Safe curriculum, giving parents an opportunity to experience what kids are learning, hear the language being used, and ask questions.

While the demonstration focuses on fifth grade, parents from all elementary grade levels are invited to attend. We’re also planning a Parent 101 event early next year to continue the conversation and help parents better understand online safety, warning signs, and what exploitation can look like today.

For me, this work is both community-focused and deeply personal. I’m supporting it through Clarity, but I’m also a mom raising a fifth grader here. I can’t remove every risk my son will encounter as he grows up, but I can make sure he has the information and tools to better navigate the world he’s growing up in. I can help him understand boundaries, know who he can turn to, and trust that he can come to us when something doesn’t feel right.

To me, that is also clarity: having the information and awareness to recognize what matters and the confidence to take the next right step.

The more we know, the better prepared we are to help our kids know when to speak up—and to make sure they know we’re listening.

RSVP for Nov 10th here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2001250544250?aff=oddtdtcreator

Or, if you’d like to learn more about this work, have questions about the education programs, or are interested in bringing them to your school or community, you can connect directly with the C.A.S.T. team at info@castmn.org or visit castmn.org.