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West Valley City • Elizabeth Smart doesn't know whether being trained as a child to resist aggression could have prevented or changed her nine months of captivity and sexual abuse in 2002. But she thinks it would have helped her survive.
On Tuesday, she announced the Elizabeth Smart Foundation is partnering with radKIDS (rad stands for "resist aggression defensively") and Learning for Life, a Boy Scouts of America affiliate, to train more radKIDS instructors in the Salt Lake Valley. She and her family have championed the program since she was taken from her home as a 14-year-old girl by Brian David Mitchell.
"I know that [radKIDS] would have made a difference to me, and I want it to make a difference to all those other children who have those terrible experiences yet to come," Smart, 24, said Tuesday at a media event at Hillsdale Elementary, 3275 W. 3200 South.
Through the training, she said, "they realize 'I am special. Nobody has the right to hurt me.'"
Staff members for Learning for Life, which teaches character development and life skills lessons in 13 elementary schools including Hillsdale, will take the four-day instructor training course next week, according to Learning for Life director Georgia Smith. This is the first time, she said, that the instructor course has been offered in the Salt Lake Valley.
But the radKIDS curriculum has been adopted by elementary schools in Salt Lake County, Utah County and in rural parts of the state. Ed Smart, Elizabeth's father, said he would like to see the program taught in more schools.
"When Elizabeth came home there were two things that were very, very important to us. One of them was that what happened to her was not her fault. The other one was that nobody has the right to do this to you — [those] happen to be two of the three principles of radKIDS," Ed Smart said in an interview. The other principle, he said, is it's OK to tell an adult when someone else, even a teacher or family member, hurts you.
RadKIDS, based in South Dennis, Mass., is a "family-centered, safety education program that emphasizes essential decision-making skills as well as physical resistance options to escape violence," according to its website. "Children from 5-12 years of age participate in the program with their adult partners to create a true safety partnership."
The training, sponsored by the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, is open to anyone and costs $450. It will be held at the West Valley City Community Preservation Department.
Become a radKIDS instructor
P The Elizabeth Smart Foundation is sponsoring a four-day training for adults interested in being certified to teach the radKIDS safety curriculum to children.
When • Dec. 13-16, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day
Where • West Valley City Community Preservation Department, 4522 W. 3500 South
Cost • $450
Register • Go to bit.ly/rTitSg and click on "register now" at bottom of the page
More info • http://www.radkids.org