Catherine Gerhardt Kidproof Melbourne Interview

Catherine Gerhardt Kidproof Melbourne Interview

Catherine Gerhardt has a big plan: to develop and implement proactive and preventative child safety education programs in Melbourne. Her big idea? Kidproof Melbourne. By working with schools, community groups and other child-centric organisations to keep parents and carers informed, Catherine hopes to create safer communities and provide peace of mind to parents.

With the idea firmly planted in her head, Catherine turned to online community website PlanBig to reach a larger audience and harness the support of the community to make her plan a reality.

PlanBig (www.planbig.com.au) is a new website where anyone with a plan or an idea can access the resources and support to make their plan happen in the real world. An initiative of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, it is the contemporary iteration of the bank's core approach, now drawing on the strengths of social networking to facilitate community outcomes.

"PlanBig has been a huge source of support for my plan," said Catherine. "Connecting with like-minded people has been very helpful and motivating, and it has been a great way to raise awareness for the cause."

Speaking on the reasons for her plan Catherine explained, "I wanted to combine my passion for community development and the need for child safety awareness education into a successful business. "

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Managing Director, Mike Hirst, says budding entrepreneurs, dreamers, creative thinkers, community leaders and anyone with a bright idea should visit the site. "The site is a home for people with a shared interest or common goal. You can log in and plan your project with the help of other planners, or join up and support other people's plans."

Commenting on the importance of child safety education, Catherine commented, "I think parents and carers are hungry for current, relevant programs that address "today's" issues - not outdated, misused and ineffective lessons that were created in years gone by.

Drawing on her own experience as a mum, "The more you know, the less you fear," Catherine continued.

"Children face serious threats in their everyday lives, and while there has been more awareness and education around bullying in recent times, it is not the only issue that parents and carers need to deal with. As a child grows they will be faced with a range of issues relating to their personal safety, and our programs are designed to address those issues in an age-appropriate manner," Catherine elaborated.

"Kidproof Melbourne is just the first step - I hope to see my programs established in schools and communities nationwide one day, building networks to meet child safety needs around the country."

To find out more about PlanBig, to view "Kidproof Melbourne" plan or to start your own plan visit the PlanBig website at: www.planbig.com.au

Interview with Catherine Gerhardt

Question: Can you explain what Kidproof Melbourne is?

Catherine Gerhardt: Kidproof Melbourne is the first Australian Kidproof franchise, Kidproof has been operating in Canada for over ten years and we have just launched in Australia at the end of 2010. Kidproof provides proactive and preventative child and family safety education and we will be working with schools, community groups and any child-centric organisation.


Question: What inspired you to create Kidproof?

Catherine Gerhardt: To keep kids safe and with the idea that if we can give kids and families the right information then they will be able to make safe choices in what could be potentially unsafe situations. Knowledge is key and violence is predictable; a lot of people think that unsafe situations are a mistake or that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and that isn't the case. Violence is predictable and if you have the right knowledge you don't put yourself in those situations.


Question: What can Australians do to help support Kidproof Melbourne?

Catherine Gerhardt: One of the big things Australians can do is log onto the website: www.kidproofsafety.com.au and sign up to our fortnightly ezine that contains articles about kids and parenting issues. A recent article published in the ezine was about Facebook and the rule that kids need to be over 13 to create an account. The Kidproof ezine is a great resource for parents and it is important that parents also keep an eye out for Kidproof Melbourne programs and then enroll their kids or attend our parenting seminars. Parents can even get online at www.kidproofsafety.com.au because there is a lot of information that they can use for themselves or spread the word. Schools are also encouraged to get online because they have access to information about safety issues that they can then pass onto their own community.


Question: Can you explain what cyber bullying is?

Catherine Gerhardt: Cyber bullying is basically bullying that is happening through technology. Bullying is not only happening through traditional methods of laptops or the home computer it is now happening with anything that is connected to the internet. What we are seeing now is cyber bullying happening through Smartphones, iPods and gaming consoles such as X-Box and Nintendo Wii which can both be connected to the internet which means that cyber bullying can occur through those types of mediums.


Question: How can parents and carers actively educate themselves about cyber bullying?

Catherine Gerhardt: Kidproof Melbourne runs seminars for parents about cyber bullying where we talk about what kids are doing online and what are the dangers to kids online. Our basic message to parents is protecting kids online is a parenting issue not a technology issue. I read something this morning and I was glad to see that the message was starting to get out - parents need to know that protecting kids online is a parenting issue not a technology issue. Yes, kids tend to know more about technology than their parents do but they're not experts at being able to detect danger which means they get themselves into tricky situations. One of the biggest reasons why kids don't tell their parents that cyber bullying is occurring is because they are so scared that their parents are going to disconnect them from the internet. Kidproof doesn't encourage parents pulling the plug on the internet because all you are doing then is punishing your child for telling you about the cyber bullying. It is about putting protective mechanisms around the risk.

It is the same old fashion education about drug and alcohol or sex education where it comes down to communication - it is important to keep the lines of communication open with your kids and then you can discuss problems or issues that are going on. If the communication isn't there in the first place you will have an up-hill battle.


Question: How are Bendigo and Adelaide Bank supporting Kidproof Melbourne?

Catherine Gerhardt: Yes, they are supporting us through the www.planbig.com.au website. I have been working with some of the local Bendigo Bank brands in applying for grants for cyber safety programs into local schools.


Question: Do you have a website where we can learn more about Kidproof Melbourne and support your plan?

Catherine Gerhardt: www.planbig.com.au/kidproof-melbourne


Interview by Brooke Hunter