Oklahoma-Based Program Teaches Students To Think About Crime Prevention

More than 100 Collinsville kindergartners are getting an interactive look at crime prevention.

Former law enforcement officer and current Skiatook teacher's aide Perla Boggs created the lesson plan. She teaches kids where they can turn to for help if they’re victims of a crime.

She wrote and illustrated the curriculum herself and her message is that kids need to know who they can trust and who they can't.

"I just explain to the children that when they fear, they have to be really alert. They have to stop and think and follow their feelings," Boggs said.

When the Collinsville Police Department heard about the program, they paid to print the books and helped schedule it at the Early Childhood Center.

"Children, a lot of time, aren't hurt by strangers, they're hurt by people they know. They're hurt by people who are comfortable in their families and those kind of things. We're just trying to make them aware of how they can trust and who they can't," said Collinsville Police Chief Jimmie Richey.

The program is called "Stop and Be a Thinker."

Boggs said she also teaches kids how to say no to drugs.