40th Annual Safety Town Prepares Children For Elementary School

The children are either entering elementary school for the first time or they're beginning first grade in the fall. Each day, the kids learn about basic safety lessons from volunteers, certified teachers and daily guest speakers. 

"They'll be out of their home environment. Maybe they've been out at preschool, but still very sheltered and now they're kind of stepping out of that safety zone," said Cyndi Aghayan, Safety Town curriculum director. 

Aghayan was an elementary school teacher when she joined Safety Town 15 years ago. She says the children are absorbing all the lessons. 

Thursday's lesson focused around "stranger danger." Ann Bryant, a school based prevention coordinator and educator for Child Abuse Listening and Mediation in Santa Barbara (CALM) taught the students three safety words which includes "no, go and tell." These words should be used when children feel uncomfortable and unsafe around another person. 

"They realize that if they yell if someone is trying to hurt them or touch them inappropriately. Chances are there is a safe person around to listen to them and help them," said Bryant. 

She says "go" is to remind the children to run away if someone is harming them and they need to "tell" a trustworthy adult about what happened.