Resolve/

Project PREPARE

Project PREPARE provides youth in New Mexico with our original experiential personal safety and self-defense classes and/or 60-90 minute seminars that address at least one aspect of violence prevention (selected by teachers, counselors, and administrators at the school according to perception of need.) IMPACT actively collaborates with Santa Fe Public Schools (SFPS) and several private and charter schools.

Our unique and interactive programs give students the opportunity to practice in real life role-playing scenarios. Our highly trained instructors enable students to face and appropriately respond to the current issues in their lives:

• Can they navigate their world emotionally and establish healthy and safe peer relationships (friendship and romantic)?

• Can they navigate their environment safely without being vulnerable to boundary violations or violence?

• Do they have the internal fortitude to resist peer pressure and say “No” to drugs, alcohol, and other high-risk behaviors?

• Can they intervene and offer support to their peers who are targeted for bullying?

• Can they identify and push back against harmful gender norms and other stereotypes that contribute to oppression?

Most often students have some understanding around these topics, but they have not had the opportunity to learn how to respond appropriately in the moment of fear or intimidation. We give them the opportunity to see how it feels and actually do it, in a safe, supportive environment through repetitive role-playing. They practice saying, “No” when they mean no and, “Yes” when they mean yes. They practice leading themselves out of problematic situations.