Since the beginning of the school year, all second grade students at Art City Elementary have participated in RAD Kids, a personal empowerment program sponsored, in part, by the police department. They have learned safety tips and practiced fight/flight techniques during P.E. class. Upon completion of the program, parents were invited to attend a simulation during school hours where the students demonstrated the skills they had learned. Each child had a turn to attempt an escape from a physical encounter.
I brought Garrett and Ella along with me to the simulation. They were reluctant to sit for the full hour and so I did a lot of chasing, retrieving, and trying to hold them in my lap. And while the second grade student's demonstrations were quite impressive, none of them held a candle to Ella's ability to wriggle free from my grasp. I've decided that the go absolutely limp like a rag doll when someone tries to lift you from behind is the most successful technique used to evade capture. Kicking and screaming is also effective. (I would have greatly benefited from the padded suit and face mask the police officer wore that day.)
I did manage to watch Spencer as he did his exercises, and I was pleased to see how well he performed. I hope he will never have need to use the skills he was taught, but I feel a sense of relief to know that he would have some idea about how to respond in adverse situations if he had to.
This post authored by Amber
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