Kids Self-Defense: Being Aware

Video Transcript

"Today we are talking about kids safety and I'd like to address the idea of being aware. Being aware is your first line of defense, and as a kid you need to be aware of all sorts of things. And one thing that you can do to help yourself be more aware, and aware of your surroundings especially, is using your peripheral vision. I'm standing off to the side, and although Elora is somewhat behind me, I can still see her because out of the corner of my eye I can see things. And you can do that by, you can kind of practice using your hands out to the side, you're looking straight ahead, but yet you can see movement. And even though you're not looking to the side, you need to pay attention to what's going on. Which brings me to another point, and that is being aware would require your head to be up. You also need to be able to hear, so to be walking around with Ipod's or headphones on can be a very serious and dangerous way to travel. And you want to remember that keeping your eyes up, you're looking around as you're walking. And also when you see something out of the corner or your eye, you need to turn, look at and see what it is. If it's a person, you need to let that person know that you know they are there. Maybe you should say "hi"; maybe you should just make eye contact. But those things are going to help you take away the element of surprise. Attackers are looking for easy victims and people who are not aware are very easy, because they have the element of surprise at their advantage. So being aware is an extremely important way of keeping yourself safe."