Subscribe to Feed
A parents worst nightmare is if their child gets kidnapped. When I was a kid I remember having the run of the neighborhood during daylight hours. Why I could explore the nearby woods so long as I was back by dark. That was another time but there was crime even back then. I did save a couple of girls from my school in the woods on day as they were surrounded by four guys. More on this later but first I would like to draw attention to stories in the new about some girls escaping kidnapping attempts!
Hereis a link to the Modesto Bee story about girls walking home from school and in one case a car pulls over and the guys said her mother asked him to pick her (the girl) up. The girl ran to her grandmothers house! This girl was not so easily fooled by the would be kidnapper. The girl did exactly the right thing here. When my oldest son was about eight years old a similar thing happened. A truck pulled up and tried to cut my son off. Some ladies noticed the weird behaviour and yelled at me son to run! He did and my son was safe! I will look at the second kidnapping attempt and speak about how children can be safe. I will tell you how the girls from my school made out but first here is an example of what a girl can do if a guy tries to attack.
Wow – that must have been really scary for the girl to have a man pester her and not let up. Luckily she had some self-defense training and knew what to do. Another strategy would have been to scream at the man in the mall to leave her alone and ask the mall security to walk her to the car (if she noticed him following). The palm strikes to the nose are effective but I noticed that she had keys in her hand. Optimally I would have used the panic alarm and the keys in-between my fingers to punch the guy in the face or eyes! But this is all Monday morning quarterbacking – the important thing is the girl is safe and what she did worked!
Now for the second kidnapping attack in the story, this girl’s arm was grabbed by the bad guy and she turned and kicked him in the nuts! The guy let go and she ran away!!! This is a classic self-defense move the will mostly work. Bad guys expect girls to be scared of them and not to put up much of a fight. When a girl can pull a surprise counter-strike – that gives the girl a few seconds to make her escape!
In a nut shell here is how to prepare – firstly as a parent, if you have not ever considered what to do to help your daughter prepare, go to these websites:
Basically you will have to run though the thought processes with your daughter that include; awareness, avoidance, assertiveness, evading, self-defense, and escape. These websites are particularly good at demonstrating the issues facing women and children.
If your girl or boy is interested, you might want to consider some formal martial arts training. Generally I like striking fighting arts over grappling styles for self-defense but having said that – there is at least one Bakersfield boy that choked out a pitbull that would disagree with me. I do think that every child should at least have a short self-defense course.
As far as the girls from my school – I came up on them as four guys were surrounding them in the wood that I happened to be walking. The girls said I was their brother and I played along. I had my club strapped in the sheath my mom made for me and the guys did not like their chances apparently. They backed away and let us go. The girls thanked me and I felt like I was in the right place at the right time.
If you liked this post – please consider subscribing to my RSS Feed.
February 8th, 2009 at 5:13 am
These must be terrifying scenarios for kids. Teaching children about being safe is a very worthwhile cause and all parents should take it seriously.
However, I have serious reservations about the experiences shown in the video. That story seems to imply a successful strategy for dealing with this scenario is by striking the attacker in the nose using the element of surprise.
I feel that this is very very poor advice. Yes she defended herself and yes, she came out unscathed this time. I feel she was very lucky. After all that happened she should NOT have walked back to her car. She could easily have been overwhelmed and kidnapped by the attacker and driven away in her own car! And she had her back to the suspect guy as she approached her car with zero awareness of her surroundings.
After the ATM harassment and him following her, she should have immediately gone into a shop and told one of the staff. Or called out like you say John and gotten the attention of security if they were available. If she goes into a shop to get assistance from someone in there (hopefully an adult and more than just one), and he loitered around the area, they simply call the police.
Another risk of going to the car and driving off is that they may follow their prey home…
Striking techniques should be taught but the number one PRIORITY is teaching kids about awareness. This should include how to approach their car in car parks. Especially if they have just been harassed. The video to me just seems to have missed so many steps that should have been taken. It is almost like she accidentally emerged unscathed rather than what she did being the ideal solution.
All the same, I am glad she is OK. I feel that this is quite an emotive topic. I have a real dislike for these people such as the one that harassed this girl.
And John, I already subscribe to your RSS feed
February 13th, 2009 at 3:17 am
In self-defence classes for women and teens, we always advise them to carry the keys in the jab hand, longest one poking out. You can get into your house or car faster and you can use it as a serious weapon. But the key excuse the pun is the willingness to use it. We also instruct them to look for a PAL (people, activity, and lights) if they feel threatened. Trusting our instincts is very important. If you get a bad feeling look for a PAL immediately. It is fortunate she got away. A palm heel is a good weapon but not is good as a key, as you mention, John.
February 16th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Hey Adam – yep if they avoid the attack that is so much better then having to try and come out of it ok. That is missing from so many youtube videos – pointing out what should be obivious. Good point that should be repeted over and over!
.
Hi Matt – I like PAL – it sums up an easy way to remember the main goal – avoidence if possbile and also which way to escape!