STICKING IT TO THE SEXUAL PREDATOR. Part II.
Written by Hammer
Filed under: Administrators, High School, K-6, Parents, People Involved, Predators, School Grade Level, School Safety Issues, Students
IN MY LAST POST (August 20) I introduced S.T.I.C.K., a training paradigm designed for children in tandem with Survival Coach(es) – parents and/or selected school staff – with the primary goal of neutralizing the miscreants who are the sexual predators and/or child abductors. Today I thought we could rap about the physical hands-on Escape and Evasion STICK components. Before we start, though, there is a caveat –aint there always – and that is, simply, without the loving and committed involvement of the parent/courage coach these principles, concepts and techniques will not work against a slick, sly and determined adult predator.
Avoidance and Prevention, as in any effective self defense program for children, add up to as much as 95 to 98% to a child’s ability to escape and evade a predator. STICK relies on the Safety Coach to reinforce the following principles through suggested coaching session, role plays and scenarios (all scripted by my program):
- Escape at the earliest opportunity. A child can simply leave an unsafe environment when he or she first recognizes that an adult may be a threat (See “Signatures Of Evil” in a subsequent post). If the suspicious adult pops up suddenly, a child must be urged by his/her Safety Coach to run and shout. There are certain Running Rules, also, such as not to completely turn your back (Predator-Prey-Principle) and to run in a zig-zag (surpentine) pattern and to destroy the environment by knocking over and throwing objects (backpack, books, garbage cans, chairs) in the predator’s path. Children will also be taught to run toward “Safe” looking adults with children.
- Act like a “Hard Target.” I call sexual predators Chicken Hawks because they are cowards who hover around “targets” whom they perceive as easy victims. The Chicken Hawk will then circle the “Easy Target” until he/she is the most distracted, weak, along and ready to give up. Pedophiles, on the other hand, will avoid Hard target kids who are:
- Noisy. Predators like quick, shy, meek children who can be carried away with as little notice as possible
- Eye Contact. Children who look at least indirectly at the stalker unnerve many of the predators. I do not suggest that the child stand frozen in one spot and gawk at an adult, but exchanging a look that says I know what you are and what you are up to as well as saying (“noisy), “Stay back!” is often enough.
- Positive, confident body language. The Safety Coach plays a primary role in cultivating a sense of confidence in his or her child. How to walk, keep the head up, be aware, to trust his or her Gut Feelings (almost every child feels The Creeps when he or she is approached by an adult whom deserves no trust). Most importantly, the child who will survive an encounter with a sexual predator has a great Safety Coach who has instilled him/her with the willingness to do whatever is necessary to come back home.
- STICK believes that conventional self defense and complex martial arts do not work for children in counter-abduction situations. No matter how good he or she is, there is no way an 8-year old child is going to fight off an adult-sized recidivistic and determined violent criminal. Therefore, all our techniques are specifically designed for children and smaller adolescents in life and death situations.
- Delaying the Sexual Predator in the Initial Crime Scene is a key objective: Predators fear the passage of time in the initial crime scene. As a matter of fact, the predator’s strategy almost always is scripted to grab the child and abduct that kid from that environment in seconds, not minutes, in order to take him or her to the isolated Secondary Crime Scene, from which there will be no return. The longer a child can force the abductor to screw around in this high-witness environment (Initial Crime Scene) the higher the chances he or she will break off the attack and get out of Dodge!
Next Post: Forcing the Sexual Predator To Get Out Of Dodge.
Until then, Stay Safe.
Hammer
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