On Saturday, Jan. 26 the Santa Clara Academy of Self Defense will be hosting a “See N Flee” event to teach children how to avoid the grasp of a potential abductor. The hour-long class is for children 7-12 years old and it is $19.99 to sign up.
The class is being taught by self defense expert Tom Patire. According to his website, Patire has been featured discussing child and adult safety techniques on talk shows such as the Rachael Ray Show and Good Morning America.
“I basically designed this program for my sons,” said Patire. “I wrote a book called the Personal Protection Handbook back in 2003. I interviewed a lot of different sources including convicted pedophiles. In my program we take kids through different techniques. After testing it among my kids and their friends, I took it nationwide to boy scouts, girl scouts, school districts and all.”
For parents potentially worried about their kids being scared after taking the class and thinking that someone might abduct them, Patire gave this response:
“First of all, we don’t make the kids paranoid, and we teach through laughter, not through tears,” said Patire. “We have created a fun type of obstacle course that we put the kids in. We show the kids the techniques first, but we don’t tell them what they are for yet. We really try to deliver this in an easy-going, fun-filled environment because it is easier to learn through non fear factors. We’ve never had the problem of kids being scared.”
Academy of Self Defense owner Neal Newman has known and worked with Patire for over 20 years.
According to Newman, one of the simpler things that parents can do to help their children be prepared is to have a code word.
“Quite often what the bad guys will do is they will go up to a kid and say, ‘hey listen your father had a car accident and I’m really good friends with your mother, I’m in your guys’ church. Your mom sent me down here to pick you up and take you to the emergency room.’ So what Tom does, and it’s brilliant, he has the parents give the kids a code word,” explained Newman. “And the code word can’t be the name of the dog or the car you drive. The bad guys quite often track kids, so the code word needs to be totally abstract. If the bad guy doesn’t know the code word, you start screaming and start running.”
For parents interested in having their kids attend the class on the Jan. 26, the Academy has no plans on capping the number of students. Parents can sign up online ahead of time at https://kravmagaspecialist.com/product/see-n-flee/. All are welcome to pay at the door.