Personal safety assembly at Lakewood, Colorado middle school

Master Corina Black, shown above, heads the ATA Black Belt Academy in Lakewood. She is passionate about women’s safety and self-defense. Last May, she conducted a personal safety and self-defense assembly for approximately 800 eighth graders at her community’s Dunstan Middle School. Female teachers and administrators also attended. Master Black said about the event:

The girls were very attentive and interested in keeping themselves safe. I was very pleased with them accepting the challenge of keeping themselves safe over the next 8 years as they complete high school and then college. I outlined a four-step plan as a starter for personal safety and awareness — P-erceive; A-nalyze; F-ormulate; I-nitiate. They also got to try a hands on approach to someone grabbing them and a spacial body positioning drill in relation to a real or perceived threat.

It is helpful to think of safety across a broad range of techniques. Physical self-defense is perhaps the oldest, and certainly important for every youngster to have in the range of ways to keep from getting hurt. It is good news, though, that new lines of first defense can be not physical, but digital. In our maturing age of digital devices and wireless communication, highly effective self-defense is often using a cell phone to send alerts and location information that will bring help.

The story quoted and image are from YourHub.com, a weekly section produced by the Rocky Mountain News.