Safety and Security for Children Overseas
The A-OK Program*
The A-OK (Alert Overseas Kids) Program provides security and safety information to American children living overseas.
The program was designed in 1986 for the children of people working abroad at
A-OK goals are to:
• teach children safety and security strategies and techniques that really work;
• build children's confidence and self-reliance so they can act correctly in an emergency; and
• equip children with the knowledge and skills they need in order to recognize, avoid, and where necessary, report safety and security threats.
The Bureau of Diplomatic Security offers this security-awareness program to teach children basic security rules, with special emphasis on foreign environments and local threats. We know that when we teach safety messages to children, they pass them on to their parents and set an example for the entire family.
A-OK materials are provided to a mission's or post's A-OK program coordinator who tailors the program to the local environment as well as to meet the particular needs of different age groups. A-OK materials cover such topics as:
• Home alone safety
• After-school and emergency safety
• Bicycle and street safety
• Fire safety
• Messages in the media
• Drugs, inhalants, smoking, tobacco
• Sexual and child physical abuse
An annual worldwide contest encourages overseas American children to create art depicting their own safety and security messages. Winning selections of this artwork are use to produce an annual A-OK calendar of safety tips.
For more information on the A-OK Program, email us: DSPublicAffairs@state.gov
or write:
DS Public Affairs
Bureau of Diplomatic Security
*The A-OK logo was designed by John Kim, who at the time was an 11-year-old American living in
