Self defense is a huge issue in schools.

When I walk to and from school, I am occasionally followed, cat called, and sexualized by men as much as twice my age (yes my parents are aware).

I have heard stories from my peers about people assaulting and harassing them in the halls, in both verbal and physical. Some examples are boob touching, ass slapping, and general sexual comments directed towards them.

Some of my peers also recall having been followed by strange people or being attacked on the streets.  

This summer I was in a rock and roll camp for girls. We spent most of our time learning about music and what it means to be in a band, but they included a quick group self defense that only took 30 minutes and it cleared up so much for me. I felt so much safer knowing I could protect myself. I walked home with a new sense of confidence that day.

I think our school should implement a self defense program into PE class.

It would be very easy and it could take up only 1-2 class periods and could fit right in with the curriculum in PE.

The classes could be instructed by our regular PE teachers and it shouldn’t be hard for them to learn  (one of the people who taught the self defense  in my rock and roll camp learned from youtube).

Michael Erickson School Resource Officer Michael Erickson agreed that having a self defense class at our school would be beneficial to people.  “It would be inexpensive and fit in right with the curriculum we already have.”  He suggested I “take this to the school staff. I’ll back you on this. I think this is a change you can make. Tell me if you decide to write up a story on this.”  

And here that story is.   

This world is a dangerous place; 1 in 5 people are sexually assaulted at some point in their life. It’s important people learn the means to protect themselves, and also are given the confidence to speak out against it.

Things get better together, we can’t do this alone.