Training kids to prevent abduction

[Makalakumu]

I have a two year old daughter and this has been on my mind all day...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4146010/

This year is the first year I have opened my dojang to children under 14 because I have had to modify some of my curriculum to deal with their size and maturity. I am wondering if other instructors out there are going to use this as an example in order to teach some very poignant self defense skills to their students. If so, how are you going to bring it up? I don't want to send my students home with nightmares. Also, what kind of techniques would you give children to deal with this situation?

upnorthkyosa

 

[Black Bear]

Kids' self-defense has always been on the edge of my mind. I felt like I got a good perspective on it out of Gavin DeBecker's "Protecting the Gift" which was written for parents, and I think that stands on its own as a very good risk reduction educational delivery system. If anyone is doing the child thing and hasn't read it, I recommend it.

I also own Tony Blauer's "Children First" which shows how he adapted his approach for children, which was kind of good, and my reading pile contains an oldie named "Streetproofing" which I still have to read. I'm interested in what curricula any of you have used successfully.

 

[Makalakumu]

Originally posted by Black Bear
Kids' self-defense has always been on the edge of my mind. I felt like I got a good perspective on it out of Gavin DeBecker's "Protecting the Gift" which was written for parents, and I think that stands on its own as a very good risk reduction educational delivery system. If anyone is doing the child thing and hasn't read it, I recommend it.

I've read "the Gift of Fear" and I was totally into that book. I'm going to have to check this one out. Thanks.

What do people think about weapons training for kids? I know its a bit out there, but if that little girl would have had a knife, it may have equalized the situation to a point where she could have gotten away. Of course the attacker could have taken it from her and used it on her...in this case it wouldn't have mattered much because she was murdered anyway.

As far as techniques go, I try to teach my students how to kihap (kiai) very loudly. I tell them this is done to attract attention and that the more you do it, the louder your voice gets. Also, I teach my students some simple escapes from grabs from jui jutsu. These techniques are great for people who a lot smaller then their attackers.

Does anyone reccomend anything else?

 

[Black Bear]

Some of the stuff they talk about in the Gift of Fear is

- to provide learning opportunities for kids to become confident interacting with ppl (including adults). Encourage them to talk to strangers, to be able to ask for help or directions. what needs to be discouraged is going elsewhere with strangers

- just like adult s-d, if you stay where the other people are, your risk is actually very low.

- how to pick child care staff

- the three things an abductor needs: Access, Cover, and Escape. When he has the ACE, he trumps all other cards.

... and so on.

Kids with knives, haha, I don't know at what age I'd want to give my kid the responsibility of wearing a sharp knife, like if I were to give him my delica or something. One thing is them not being able to take it to school. So "everyday carry" it is not.

Kiai is good. What I teach kids and women alike to scream is:

"WHO ARE YOU???"

In the 70's an experiment was done by social psychologists on bystander helping behaviour. There was a stupid rumour going around (and it still goes, thanks to uneducated MORONS who teach self-defense based on taking martial arts, and reading paperback books and government pamphlets without ever studying the f***** primary research, as if researchers do it for their own f***** health--please know that I HATE you ) that folks should yell "FIRE" because people would be willing to intervene. The psychologists knew that current theory of human behaviour under stress, the more ambiguous the situation, the less likely performance is to occur. Yelling FIRE makes the situation more confusing.

Sure enough, yelling FIRE generated the least bystander helping behaviour. Just yelling RAPE was better.

The MOST bystander interference, though, was generated by yelling"Why are you doing this to me, I don't even know you!!!" This regularly jolted otherwise docile bystanders into frenzies of helpfulness. The psychologists theorized that when ppl see or hear a conflict between one male and one female, they may suspect it to be a "relationship thing" and be reluctant to become involved. That particular yell instantly crystallizes the bystanders' "framing" of the situation, and they jump in. It's not hard to generalize this to children. In fact, some antiabduction folks instruct clients to yell "This man is not my dad!" because otherwise, bystanders just think the kid's being, well, bad.

The experiment (I think it was Darley and Latane, 1970-something) was very hazardous to do. A recorded "argument" was played loudly from inside a room with the door closed. At the end, they had "the yell", which was systematically varied at random. Two experimenters waited inside to record the frequency with which people entered the room to intervene. And those poor experimenters. One bystander had been taking karate classes and decided to come in and try out his stuff. Another grabbed a fistful of sharpened pencils from a cup, burst into the room, and assaulted an experimenter with them.

Flash-forward to Matt Thomson's "Defend Yourself" book in the late 80's. Under stress, people can generally only recall--what did he say, 5, 7 syllables? So Black Bear says to himself, the best thing to tell people to yell might just be...


WHO ARE YOU??? HELLP!!!!!


:asian:

 

[Black Bear]

BONUS POST:

Have you tried teaching kids to "tread water" through their attacker?

Okay, not quite treading water. But suppose you try to grab a kid to take somewhere. Suppose their lower half is "bicycle kicking" like mad. Suppose their upper half is throwing out palm strikes, elbows, scratches, grabs, pinches, and bites in an essentially stochastic manner. Yeah, that makes it tougher, doesn't it?

Wear a full helmet, impact reduction gear, and a good groin cup when practicing this.

 

[Black Bear]

upnorthkyosa, as much as I know of your contempt for sport "fighting", I also have to recommend that you investigate Luis Guttierez's "play as the way" tape.

http://www.onedragon.com/prod_paw_video.shtml

After all, martial art is a form of voluntary physical education that people participate in. The parents' calls may come because of fear, but they'll keep their kids in after the first three months because of the broader benefits which training confers.

 

[deadhand31]

One of the best ways to attract attention is to scream "FIRE!" Never scream help, because noone ever comes then, but if you scream fire, then alot more people come to see.

 

[Black Bear]

*blinks disbelievingly* Did you read my post?

 

[Makalakumu]

Originally posted by Black Bear
*blinks disbelievingly* Did you read my post?

Don't blink, you'll shut off the lasers!

Also, I need to read Gavin DeBecker's book. I didn't know he had one on protecting children. Thanks for the info.

I'm not totally against sport fighting by the way...if I was, I'd have a few less dents.

 

[rachel]

On the video it almost looked like he showed her a concealed weapon. I saw a show on tv a couple of years ago and it said that if the attacker has a weapon and tries to take you somewhere that it means he will more than likely kill you. He wants to get you away from other people to do whatever he wants to you and then will kill you so you must decide if you're willing to fight right then where people can see and hear you or take your chances being taken somewhere.

 

[Black Bear]

rachel, it is correct that you should never allow someone to move you to a secondary location, or as you would tell kids, "don't go anywhere with a stranger". That is the number one basic rule of self-defense. If you let them transport you, you are in a really really bad situation.

deadhand13's lack of verbal comprehension ability enrages the angry laser monkey.

 

[bart]

I have a two year old daughter and this has been on my mind all day...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4146010/

Me too. It's been on my mind since I first heard about it. I don't teach kids right now. I teach eskrima and I've been reluctant to deal with the ethics of teaching those under 16 the use of weapons even in a limited capacity. Kids have a hard time understanding the seriousness of weapons training. But I am considering now opening a childrens class focusing primarily on issues of personal safety and developing a modified curriculum to keep them safe from evil people like the killer in this sad story.