Self Defense At School

Lately, school attacks have been in the news. Unfortunately, they seem to be growing more and more common. How do you teach your children to be safe in the case of such attacks?

Most schools, particularly those at the kindergarten through twelfth grade level, have a zero tolerance policy with regards to weapons of any kind. This means no guns, no knives, and no pepper spray. Even if you give your child a small canister of pepper spray simply for self defense reasons, both you and your child can get in serious trouble if this is discovered.

Since weapons, even nonlethal ones that are designed for self defense, are banned on school property, you’ll need to consider other ways to prepare your children for such attacks. The truth is, they are much more likely to come up against more routine violence, such as bullying, than against a mass school shooting like those that have been on the news. Though the level of violence can vary greatly depending on the age of the kids and the particular school, you can bet that your children will have to face a violent or threatening situation at some point during their educational career.

Your advice should depend on your child’s age. Younger children should simply be told to tell an adult if another child is threatening them or harassing them, while older children may be unwilling to do so and want to handle the situation themselves. Of course, in all cases if an adult who is not a student at the school is seen as a possible threat, the school should be alerted immediately.

You should also teach your children to pay attention if their friends seem depressed or even suicidal. Although many adults don’t believe it, young children, especially those entering the teenage years, can be depressed. Depression is not limited only to adults and older teens. If your child sees his or her friends or anyone else at school with a gun, knife, or other weapon, a teacher or other school authority should be told immediately. This can stop school violence before it even starts.

Because children are unarmed when in school, the best plan if they think that someone wants to hurt them is to go away from that person and tell an adult. It is a personal decision what you choose to tell your kids about bullies, whether they should try to fight back, or immediately tell an adult, or some other response. Still, they should at least know how to protect themselves if someone tries to pick on them. Particularly if your child has a problem with bullies, self defense classes can give them the confidence to deal with these issues.

Schools today can be frightening, depending on the particular environment and your child. Give your child the skills they need to be successful in such an environment by boosting their self confidence and helping them to learn what to do in situations such as these. All students deserve to go to school in an environment where they are safe from harm.