Creating CommUNITY
HELPING US HELP EACH OTHER
Powered by Compassion
Centered on connection
grounded in science
Support Over Silence for KIDS is a call to action, and a space for community members to develop the skills to confidently support caregivers and their children during challenging moments.
HOW WE BEGAN
Support Over Silence for KIDS was founded after the launch of No More Abuse, part of a national campaign to end relationship violence and sexual assault. 73% of the more than 400 community members at the launch event committed to speaking up when witnessing or hearing disrespectful, controlling or abusive behavior, but most of them didn’t know how. Support Over Silence for KIDS gives them the tools to do help them do that with compassion.
It’s our job as a community to be there for caregivers and children during stressful times in public. In these tense situations, it is sometimes the child’s behavior that draws our attention, and sometimes it’s the caregiver’s behavior. At Support Over Silence, we believe that parents and children are doing the best they can in a difficult situation. If we’re paying attention and prepared to offer support in a non-judgmental way, even a small gesture can be really meaningful. In that moment we may not be able to teach parenting or stress management, but we can most surely notice the struggle and offer our support over silence, for kids.
FROM OUR FOUNDER
Nancy L. Weaver
PhD, MPH
*PEER-REVIEWED MANUSCRIPTS
Taylor ME, Weaver NL, Weaver TL, Loux TM, Kutz TJ. Evaluation of Support Over Silence for KIDS: A Bystander Training Program to Address Public Child Maltreatment. Journal of Family Violence. 2022.
Murugan V, Weaver TL, Taylor, M, Weaver NL, Diltz A. Addressing caregiver-child conflict in public: Barriers and facilitators to bystander engagement. Journal of Family Trauma, Child Custody & Child Development. 2021.
Weaver NL, Taylor ME, Weaver TL, Kutz TJ. Support Over Silence for KIDS: A bystander training program to address public child maltreatment. Children and Youth Services Review. 2020;118.
Mujal GN, Taylor ME, Fry JL, Gochez-Kerr TH, Weaver NL. A Systematic Review of Bystander Interventions for the Prevention of Sexual Violence. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. 2019.
METHODS: Support Over Silence for KIDS was evaluated using pre- and post-program questionnaires to capture baseline attitudes, confidence for intervening, and barriers to intervening. Participants were also given a post-program questionnaire to share their degree of satisfaction with the training and what they intend to do differently because of the program. A three-month follow up survey was sent to participants via email.
