Strategic Protection Group, Inc. and its staff conduct dynamic workshops tailored to address the specific issues in your school community. Our staff engages participants in lively discussions regarding the use and abuse of drugs, prejudice, violence, gangs and electronic communication. We can provide curriculum support, diversity sensitivity training and will work with you to develop specific strategies to combat the problems you face to build a safe, knowledgeable and informed school community. Our programs are not a how-to guide but an upfront and a graphically realistic portrayal of the potentially life-altering consequences associated with making poor and uninformed decisions.   Children need support at this crucial stage of their development.

Drug Awareness
A powerful presentation that encourages students to speak out against drug use and abuse that is occurring in our school communities. We will learn together with the students the Truth about Drugs as well as the history and trends of specific drugs and their use in pop culture. In addition we provide photos and video illustrating the visual realities of drug use and abuse and the numerous physical and psychological effects they have on the body. We will thread this information throughout the school year keeping the conversation with the students current and reinforcing the program's mantra of Making Good Decisions. Students will be given best practice techniques on how to handle peer pressure and how not to succumb to dangerous outside influences. We will work with the administration, faculty and students to set up a confidential system by which students can feel secure providing information about what they see happening in their school. Our experience is that the overwhelming majorities of students want a Drug Free School but are reluctant to come forward for fear of exposure and reprisal. We believe that the most effective intelligence to keep the schools safe evolves from the students themselves.

The drug scene is ever evolving so vigilance is particularly important. This is where the experience and backgrounds of Strategic Protection Group personnel is crucial. To be informed is to be forewarned. We at SPG are ever aware, ever vigilant and completely educated on the latest trends and newest drugs available on the street. To view a news clip about a new drug on the street, click khat. The Hindsight trailer video depicts the story of Natalie Ciappa and perils of drug use. View the "Hindsight" trailer.

A great part of our mission is keeping children drug free now and into their future. Red Ribbon Week is the oldest and largest drug prevention campaign in the country and serves as a way to take a stand for the hopes and dreams of children through a commitment to drug prevention and education. "We hope that what you learn here in elementary school will be carried into middle school," he told the youngsters who had their right hands in the air ready to take the oath during Red Ribbon Week at the Paul J. Bellew Elementary School, where bright red "Drug Free and Proud of It" banners hang.

Bullying
The headlines large and looming about bullying are widespread in newspapers and across the internet. School violence is beyond a push or shove on the playground. It has now heightened to consequences like Columbine and Virginia Tech. Bullying takes place on Internet in forms of social networking and even extends to cell phone texting. Learn the signs of bullying and how to identify bullying victims. SPG holds workshops to empower kids on how to handle bullying situations. SPG replaces prejudice and bullying with respect, empathy, and compassion.

Hate Crimes
A hate crime is a legal category used to described bias-motivated violence such as  assault, injury, and murder on the basis of certain personal characteristics.  Characteristics can be described as a different appearance, different color, different nationality, different language, different religion. Our hate crime workshops discuss and define the protectedsclasses: Race, ethnicity, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, age, physical/mental difference and sexual orientation. In addition SPG workshops identify the effects of hate crimes on individual victims in association with their communities. Workshop participants engage in exercises that challenge deliberate thinking and actions associated with Hate Crimes.

Gang Related
Learn to identify what makes a gang, why young people join gangs, clues of gang membership and indicators of gang presence in your area. SPG conducts workshops that discuss consequences of being in a gang and how to discourage young people from joining gangs.

Youth Violence
starts at home and behaviors of youth violence are acted out in school.  Most behaviors are learned responses to circumstances and situations that are exhibited in everyday life. If a child grows up in a home where abuse is tolerated, whether verbally or physically, he or she may mimic these behaviors at school. Studies have proven that a child living in an abusive home will himself become an abuser. Learn the common threads of risk and aggressive behavior so you can intervene at the early stage of youth violence.

(Click the play arrow at right to view video clip.)