Kidscape is a London-based charity established in 1985, by child psychologist Michele Elliott. Its focus is on children's safety, with an emphasis on the prevention of harm by equipping children with techniques and mindsets that help them stay safe. After a 1984–1986 survey of 4,000 children, their parents and teachers, it was apparent that the main threat to children came from people known to them – bullies, friends, or family members. Kidscape's Child Protection programmes are now taught UK-wide in thousands of schools and community groups.

Activities

Kidscape's work falls into four main categories:

Work with external organisations

Kidscape is a member of the Anti-bullying Alliance and the National Suicide Prevention Alliance.

Awards

Patrons and trustees

Kidscape's patrons are children's author and journalist Anthony Horowitz and Dame Mary Perkins, co-founder of Specsavers. Northampton mental health campaigner, Joe Plumb, is a trustee.

Controversy

The effectiveness of Kidscape's methods for handling bullying behaviour were criticised in 1997 for not being benchmarked against other methods for preventing bullying. In some cases other education experts felt that Kidscape's methods might encourage further bullying. However, a 2018 independent evaluation of Kidscape's approach found that 98% of children felt more able to deal with bullying and three-quarters experienced a significant and sustained drop in bullying.