Teenage Self-Protection Seminar at Kingham Hill School (diary entry)

08.10.2022 I was booked back to teach for Kingham Hill school for an eighth time. However, instead of running my children's self-protection classes termly "When Parents Aren't Around" was presented as a four-hour seminar. The format is better suited for self-protection, which I try to deliver as like a First Aid course, but the challenge is to keep the attention of 14 or so 11-14 year olds for an extended period of time on a Saturday morning. Usually such circumstances aren't a large concern for me, as I am being booked by a martial arts club who have several adult senior students, parents and teachers on hand to assist. However, this one is pretty much all on me and the students aren't part of a club. As it turned out, Kingham Hill outdid themselves in the general good behaviour and enthusiasm exhibited their pupils. This made for a very productive atmosphere. Areas covered:

• Attitude, including setting a moral compass in deciding what is worth fighting for and the courage to not be drawn into potentially violent situations.

• Respecting and establishing boundaries to set up "fence" strategies and tactics.

• Evasion games

• Exit identifications

• Situational awareness

• Understanding stress and fear

• Tactical get-ups

• Distinctions between social and asocial violence

• The "Child's Fence" - attacking invasive hands

• Aftermath - secondary threats, reporting, comedown etc.

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