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Published Sunday, May 12, 1996, in the Miami Herald.


WARREN ZINN / For the Herald

SAFETY TIPS: Maribel Baidal, a child-assault prevention instructor, exchanges a high-five with Roger Llorens, a kindergartner at North Glade Elementary.

Youngsters warned about strangers

Prevention program gives closing lesson

By IVONNE PEREZ
Herald Staff Writer

Six-year-old Ivanna Hernandez learned an old, but valuable lesson on Friday: Don't talk to strangers.

Her classmate, Danny Martinez, also learned techniques a stranger may use to attract children.

``If a stranger tells me I need you to help me find a puppy, I say no,'' Danny said.

Both Ivanna and Danny were among 25 kids at North Glade Elementary School, 5000 NW 177th St., that listened, watched and played along with three instructors on Friday as they talked about bullies, strangers and even child molesters.

``They get to role-play and get to see what strangers do,'' said teacher Vilma Hernandez. ``Strangers can be anybody.''

With schools getting ready to rap up before summer, the Child Assault Prevention Project of South Florida, 1601 Biscayne Blvd., made a final effort to teach a kindergarten class how to stay clear of becoming victims of crime.

At Glade Elementary, CAP instructors captivated a class of 5- and 6-year-olds by acting out skits to explain the difference between a friend and a bully.

`` `No' is a very useful and powerful word,'' Claudine Richard told the class.

A skit between two instructors acting as a child and an uncle illustrated another important topic: physical and sexual abuse.

``A good touch,'' explained Richard, ``is one you don't mind giving and don't mind receiving.''

The Dade County-funded program has visited 12 schools this year, including Phyllis Miller and Oak Grove elementaries in Northeast Dade. Since April, CAP has gone to Biscayne Elementary in North Beach to teach pre-kindergarten to sixth-graders how to be ``safe, strong and free.''

``It makes them alert, how to be more careful and to defend themselves,'' said Biscayne Elementary Principal Carlos E. Fernandez.

On Monday, CAP will kick off a pilot program at Miami Beach Senior High School. For two weeks female and male instructors will talk to ninth-graders about sexual abuse and date rape, among other issues.

Since 1984, CAP has worked with up to 12,000 children a year in Dade's public schools. After each workshop, which also includes a quick lesson in self-defense techniques, CAP instructors answer questions one-on-one.

A child found to be living in an abusive environment is referred to the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, said Beth Perry, the executive director of CAP.

``They see the programming and if they are not feeling that they are safe, strong and free, they know they can talk to us,'' she said.

But in close to 200 elementary schools in Dade, many children never get to hear the messages, she said.

``That means that there are a lot of kids like Jimmy Ryce,'' she said. ``This program could have saved him.''



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