I have become exceedingly disenchanted with industrious schools in the martial arts community that capitalize on fears about childhood safety. These schools attempt to snare parents through the guise of “free” workshops. The workshops essentially turn into self-serving marketing ploys to sign up the child for long-term taekwondo or karate classes, and they do not thoroughly address the variety of topics that need to be studied to meet today’s safety challenges for kids.
Regretfully, children’s self-defense workshops often present scare tactics that play on parent’s fears just to elicit their eventual enrollment.
You may see these “Free workshop” signs in storefront windows of business & restaurants. Of course few business owners will turn away a request to promote these workshops because they are as concerned about child safety as the rest of us.
As a martial artist, I will candidly admit the last line of defense is a physical response. Child safety requires more than a 1-hour workshop about how to ward off an assailant. In my ongoing philosophy that “an ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure” here are some helpful places that you can find good information on child safety at a reasonable cost:
* Yello-Dyno – Non-fearful, research-based, anti-victimization education for children. After one cycle of participation in the Yello Dyno curriculum 80.8% of the students tested demonstrated an increase in safety knowledge regarding the issues of bullies, abductors, violent kids, drug pushers, child abusers, sexual predators, and internet predators. Plus Yello Dyno is a child safety program that meets Federal and State mandates.
* DVDs & CDs such as these on child safety can be found at the Bellingham Public Library (210 Central Ave, Bellingham, WA 98225).
“KidSmartz: Abduction Prevention” DVD
“Give Your Kids a Fighting Chance!” DVD
“Protecting the Gift” Book or CD Audiobook
“The Internet and Your Child” website -a comprehensive Internet safety and education program for adults.