Self-defense education is important to prevent situations in which the lives of students and others around them are in danger. Statistics pertaining to child abductions, rapes, and sexual assault may seem staggering, but self-defense education may be a permanent solution. High schools everywhere need to implement self-defense education courses for members of the school to not only help themselves in a dangerous situation but also to benefit an individual’s personal growth.

It is important for members of the school to learn how to protect and defend themselves, especially since most of the population are teenagers, who represent the most frequent victims of kidnapping. For many students, walking home is a time of great caution, especially since many of tragic incidents involving children occur during morning and afternoon walks to and from school. 

“I walk home in the afternoons and I get really anxious because I feel like I won’t be able to fight back if something ever happened to me,” said junior Kumayl Iqbal. “I want to be able to defend and protect myself regardless of where I am or what I’m doing.”

Just this month a Californian teenager fought off her would-be kidnappers with a doorknob she found as she was walking home. According to the girl, when she had a suspicion she was being followed, she picked up a doorknob and used it to defend herself by hitting the attackers with the doorknob with all her force. Fortunately, self-defense allowed her to get away; but in most situations, this is not the case. 

For example, four years ago, the body of a 7 year old girl who disappeared while walking home from school in Florida was recovered in a Georgia landfill. She is a part of the 258,115 children who are abducted yearly. Self-defense education could help teach students how to get out of an extreme situation.

Self-defense is not just useful in life-or-death situations, studies show that it is beneficial for a student’s personal growth as well. Research has shown that some of the many advantages to self-defense education include “strong self-discipline, self-confidence, and improved communication skills.”

With statistics suggesting that one in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college, it is not surprising that many students feel concerned when it comes to the topic of being able to fight back. School resource officer Heather Smart said she doesn’t see anything wrong with teaching students how to handle themselves in a bad situation.

“I think that anybody learning how to defend and protect themselves is always a good thing, especially since our staff is primarily females,” said Smart. “I think that women should know how to defend ourselves.”

Many schools have joined the national move towards self-defense training. The school district of Springfield, Mass. began requiring district administrators to attend self-defense training, since teachers are the first line of defense for students if something were to happen in school. Officer Smart said that there are seminars that the Sanford Police Department holds within the community called the R.A.D. Systems of Self-Defense.

The Rape, Aggression, and Defense (R.A.D.) system offers programs for women, children, men and seniors.  The program is designed to empower individuals who have no prior experience in self-defense training.

“We can come on campus and offer seminars for the staff or whoever wants to sign up,” said Smart. “I think it’s a great thing that we can bring on campus if it’s wanted.”

Nearby R.A.D. programs can be found on the R.A.D. website to find local schedules.