joe_mama - Paging Dr Shen, come in Dr Shen.... What is your take on kid's self-defense stuff? Do you ever take in courses on that, or do you just stick to the adult stuff?
Yeah, I teach self-defense for kids.
There are a lot of sick people out there, but the ones most likely to harm kids are clearly the people they see everyday; family, family friends, neighbors, teachers, coaches, hired caregivers, etc.
There's a whole lot one could say about this topic, but one important thing is to make sure you focus on teaching kids about BEHAVIOR rather than about STRANGERS. You tell a kid, "don't talk to strangers" then they see the guy from the grounds-crew at the soccer field they play at see every weekend and he's not a stranger to them. He's Gus, the guy who cuts the grass. So, the whole "stranger-danger" type approach is riddled with holes.
Kids need to be educated in what is "acceptable" behavior and what is not, and they need to be given permission to break rules, when in those situations. Kids often have intuition or gut-feelings, just like anyone else, and they need to know it's OK to listen to it and that they won't get in trouble. It's really sad to hear kids report they thought their mom or dad would get mad at them if they didn't do what their teacher/coach/ "Gus" the groundskeeper told them to do.
And they need to practice it.
The verbal is where it's at, but as far as the physical stuff, a person who wants to harm a kid generally wants privacy & control. He doesn't want a "non-compliant" kid. If the kid is too much trouble, generally he'll simply bail. That is the goal to make the kid an "undesirable target" on every level. If there is a box of kittens and you want to pick one up but it bites and claws and scratches, you'll say "screw that I don't want to hold it that much" and you'll put it down & pick up a more sedate one. You teach kids to be the wrong kind of kid to pick.
Really excellent. Do you have specific curriculum for this? I've been guilty of preaching the "Stranger Danger" thing in my kids classes, knowing full well there were a lot of ideas and scenarios I was leaving out, but felt they were too taboo or complex to address, i.e. uncles, priests, teachers, etc. :(
joe_mama - Paging Dr Shen, come in Dr Shen.... What is your take on kid's self-defense stuff? Do you ever take in courses on that, or do you just stick to the adult stuff?
Yeah, I teach self-defense for kids.
There are a lot of sick people out there, but the ones most likely to harm kids are clearly the people they see everyday; family, family friends, neighbors, teachers, coaches, hired caregivers, etc.
There's a whole lot one could say about this topic, but one important thing is to make sure you focus on teaching kids about BEHAVIOR rather than about STRANGERS. You tell a kid, "don't talk to strangers" then they see the guy from the grounds-crew at the soccer field they play at see every weekend and he's not a stranger to them. He's Gus, the guy who cuts the grass. So, the whole "stranger-danger" type approach is riddled with holes.
Kids need to be educated in what is "acceptable" behavior and what is not, and they need to be given permission to break rules, when in those situations. Kids often have intuition or gut-feelings, just like anyone else, and they need to know it's OK to listen to it and that they won't get in trouble. It's really sad to hear kids report they thought their mom or dad would get mad at them if they didn't do what their teacher/coach/ "Gus" the groundskeeper told them to do.
And they need to practice it.
The verbal is where it's at, but as far as the physical stuff, a person who wants to harm a kid generally wants privacy & control. He doesn't want a "non-compliant" kid. If the kid is too much trouble, generally he'll simply bail. That is the goal to make the kid an "undesirable target" on every level. If there is a box of kittens and you want to pick one up but it bites and claws and scratches, you'll say "screw that I don't want to hold it that much" and you'll put it down & pick up a more sedate one. You teach kids to be the wrong kind of kid to pick.
Really excellent. Do you have specific curriculum for this? I've been guilty of preaching the "Stranger Danger" thing in my kids classes, knowing full well there were a lot of ideas and scenarios I was leaving out, but felt they were too taboo or complex to address, i.e. uncles, priests, teachers, etc. :(
Priests = #1 possible predator.
Statistically it's school teachers, by a huge number as well.
As a parent to an 8 year old boy and 2 year old girl, any self-defense taught to kids has got to include shots to the balls. When I roughhouse with my son or even pick up my daughter for a second, I am always getting accidentally racked when they flail.
This is uncanny to the point it must be a biological mechanism to prevent their parents from having more kids so they get all the attention.
In a more serious note, it is a good subject to cover albeit a tough one to discuss. Even seeing the comedian vid made me want to parody jokesters getting brained.
(Btw, I edited what I wrote to make it a tad more readable).
Yeah, it's a VERY uncomfortable area for parents and they are not sure what to teach or even how to begin to approach it. Parents are usually SO grateful when you give their kids this kind of training. They just seem relieved.
I really believe you have to do SOMETHING along these lines with your kids. They need to have SOME kind of training where this issue is addressed. It can be formal training, informal training... whatever, but they should get something.
