Preparation Changes Everything
A 4-week course where teen girls build awareness, boundaries, and self-defense skills for safe independence.
Preparation Changes Everything
You Want Her Independent.
You Need Her Safe.
Teen girls face real risks—both online and off. Most haven’t learned how to recognize or respond to them.
Smart + Safe gives teen girls the practical skills to handle both.
Why it matters:
- 1 in 5 high-school girls report experiencing sexual violence each year (CDC, 2021)
- Online exploitation of minors has tripled in the last five years (NCMEC)
- Under stress, teens often freeze or miss warning signs adults would catch
A Different Kind of Threat
Most self-defense focuses on stranger attacks. But 8 out of 10 assaults on teen girls involve someone they know.
The risks today are social, digital, and situational—not just physical.
What changes outcomes:
Girls who learn to assess situations, set clear boundaries, and respond with confidence are better equipped
to recognize and avoid danger.
“
Teens often miss warning signs adults would catch — not because they’re careless, but because their brains are still learning to assess risk.
Â
Four Weeks.Three Skill Areas.One Confident Girl.
Each 60-minute session teaches practical techniques across awareness, physical response, and decision-making.
Week 1: Awareness + Communication
Situational awareness · Body language · Assertive verbal response
What she’ll learn: How to read environments and people, project confidence physically, and use her voice to establish boundaries before situations escalate.
Week 2: Boundaries + Physical Response
Recognizing warning signs · Clear refusal language · Basic self-defense techniques
What she’ll learn: How to identify when boundaries are being tested or crossed—and simple, effective physical techniques to create distance and escape.
Week 3: Real-World Scenarios
Unwanted attention · Unsafe social situations · Transportation safety
What she’ll learn: How to apply awareness and response skills in common high-risk situations through guided scenario practice.
Week 4: Digital Safety
Online risks · Digital boundaries · Connecting online and offline behavior
What she’ll learn: How digital interactions create physical risk, how to set boundaries online, and how to integrate all four weeks of skills into daily life.
Street smarts + situational awareness
Practical self-defense skills
Voice · Boundaries · Real world application
Three Skill Areas
The foundation behind every Smart + Safe session.
Awareness
Reading situations and recognizing risk early
Physical Skills
Simple, effective self-defense techniques
Decision-Making
Boundary-setting, verbal response, and safety planning
We Teach Her.
We Equip You.
Your daughter learns the skills in our sessions. You receive the framework to reinforce them at home.
After each week, parents get:
- •A short summary of what she learned and why it matters
- •Specific conversation prompts (we show you what to ask and how)
- •Simple ways to reinforce awareness and safety habits
Don’t know how to start these conversations? We do. The four weeks build her foundation—what you receive helps you continue the work long after the course ends.
Program SNAPSHOT
Duration: 4 weeks · 1 hour per session
Format: Small group (up to
8 participants) · Interactive & supportive
Who: Girls ages 12–17
Included: Weekly
handouts · Personal safety
alarm · Parent partnership
summaries.
Small-group sessions run year-round.
Secure checkout powered by Stripe. You’ll receive an instant confirmation.
What You’ll See After 4 Weeks
Beyond the techniques, here’s what changes:
-
Physical Skills
She knows how to create distance and escape if needed.
-
Situational Awareness
She trusts her instincts and reads environments before problems develop.
-
A Stronger Voice
She sets boundaries clearly—without hesitation or apologizing.
-
A Personal Safety Plan
She has a practical system for assessing and responding to risk in daily life.
About the Instructor
Keyla Alston-Griffin, MSW
Keyla grew up in a martial-arts household where three principles were absolute: read the room, hold your stance, treat everyone with respect.
As a clinical therapist specializing in adolescent development and emerging technology, she understands how teens process risk differently than adults—and why confidence is as critical as technique when it comes to safety.
Her training in Kajukenbo (a hybrid martial art) combined with 20 years working with young people gives her a practical, empowering approach designed specifically for how teen girls navigate today’s world.
Smart + Safe brings together everything she’s learned—from the dojo, the therapy room, and decades with teens—into one transformative course.
In loving memory of my parents, whose teaching lives on in this work.Â
Ready to Give Her This Gift?
Enrollment is open. Spaces limited (8 per series)
Location: Salud | 275B Marginal Way | Portland
Questions? Email keyla@smartandsafeteens.com
F.A.Q.
No. Smart + Safe is an educational safety course designed to equip girls with awareness, boundaries, and self-defense strategies. It’s skills-based, not clinical.
Traditional self-defense prepares girls for stranger attacks. Smart + Safe prepares them for the risks they’ll actually face.
Most threats to teen girls don’t come from strangers—they come from social pressure, boundary-testing, digital grooming, and unclear situations with people they know. These scenarios happen in “safe” communities every day.
Smart + Safe integrates physical techniques with situational awareness, boundary-setting, verbal response skills, and digital safety. It’s modern self-defense for the world teen girls actually live in—taught by an instructor with both martial arts training (Kajukenbo) and 20 years of adolescent experience.
Not at all. The techniques are simple, effective, and designed for teens with no background in martial arts or athletics.
Each week, parents receive a summary of what was covered plus conversation prompts to extend learning at home. You’re partners in this process.
That’s exactly who this course is for. We create a supportive, small-group environment where every girl can build skills at her own pace. Confidence grows through practice, not perfection.
Yes! Email
keyla@smartandsafeteens.com for information about private courses, school partnerships, or custom group sessions