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Our Woman’s Programs
“Aren’t R.A.D. programs for women offered by
colleges and police departments as well? Why
should I take your program and pay for it
when there are colleges and police
departments that are giving the program for
free?”
Good question! There are several parts to
answering this question.
First:
Someone has to find the money to pay for
these “free” classes, whether it is from
endowments, college tuition, town taxes or
some other mechanism of funding. At
IN-DEFENSE we keep our costs to a
minimum so that our fees are kept to a
minimum. Our classes are only ~$14/hour.
Some comparable programs (i.e. Model
Mugging) run several hundred dollars for a
program of approximately the same length and
content.
Second:
If you don’t attend that college or
live/work in the town holding the R.A.D.
program, chances are you won’t be able to
attend. At IN-DEFENSE we want
to bring safety awareness to everyone,
regardless of whether or not you attend or
live in a town that can afford to offer the
program. Also, our core public program is
not dependent upon town budgets which allows
us to be responsive to a request for a
class.
Third:
Lots of things make our program unique. All
women’s Rape Aggression Defense Basic
Personal Defense programs must follow the
core curriculum developed by R.A.D. Systems,
Inc. including key topics for discussion and
a core group of physical defense skills.
However, IN-DEFENSE works hard
to continually bring new material, and novel
teaching concepts to our programs. Here are
some examples:
· Our programs are 15-30% longer than
they need to be to make sure we cover all of
the material and leave time for lots
practice and Q&A;
· Our class sizes are small - we will
never exceed a count of 16 first time
participants;
· We use multi-media teaching techniques
(e.g. posters, videos, lecture, discussion,
role playing etc.);
· We hand out copious amounts of
informational pamphlets on various safety
topics;
· We are always searching the Department
of Justice website and canvassing women’s
assistance organizations for new information
–you won’t see statistics from the ‘80’s in
our literature;
· We have instructors certified in the
Women’s Advanced Self-Defense Program, so we
add some of these techniques into our Basic
Program to spice things up;
· We offer the Keychain Defense Options (KDO)
class as a supplemental 1-night program;
· We have instructors who have taken
courses at the Harvard School for Risk
Analysis to help you understand the
conscience and unconscious factors that make
us feel fear, and why and when we perceive
risk;
· We have instructors who attend the
Annual R.A.D. Conference to ensure that we
are staying up-to-date on important teaching
techniques, important subject matter and
emerging issues;
· We have instructors who have taught
individuals with special needs (physical and
learning) and we will work with individuals
within the class format to meet their
needs;
· Our instructors are handpicked to be
warm, caring, supportive and approachable.
LASTLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY:
We believe that every woman, regardless of
age or fitness level, is entitled to learn
safety awareness and basic defense skills.
No woman should have to be a martial arts
specialist or a fitness nut to be safe and
to be able to protect herself from harm.
At IN-DEFENSE it is our
challenge to ensure that you
extract the maximum personal
satisfaction and growth from a program
that meets your unique goals
and needs.
Learn to … “ … be there for yourself.”
Our Children's Programs
It is natural for parents to be concerned
that their children might be frightened by
some of things that are discussed in the
r.a.d.KIDS programs - these are scary topics
- but In-Defense teaches them with positive
reinforcement in a non-threatening way. We
want children to feel more aware and less
afraid. Yes, we talk about some of the
not-so-good stuff (i.e. bad strangers) but
we also talk a lot about trust, buddies,
trusted grown-ups, safety systems and
support systems within the child's
community.
"I am concerned that 2 1/2 to 3 hour
sessions are too long. How is the time
structured? I am certainly no expert, but it
seems to me that there is a fine line
between teaching children about these
topics, and stirring up too many anxieties
through hours of discussion."
Firstly, class time and length:
2 1/2 to 3 hours is not long when you
consider that there are bathroom breaks,
plus a drink/snack/bathroom break. The
format also alternates between group work
and up-and-moving about time (e.g. folders
need to be put aside and picked up again,
groups need to organize and reorganize many
times etc.), circle drills, line drills,
“drills-on-the-fly” to illustrate a concept
in another context; these activities consume
time.
We also encourage child to think about how
the things we discuss fit into their lives
and try not to get into the "formula mode".
The length of the program helps us with
this. Formulas only work when everything is
exactly the same all the time, and when has
the real world ever given us that?! We
prefer to teach adaptive thinking and this
takes time. So, the emphasis for teaching is
interactive; lots of games to teach rules,
puzzles, word games, pictures to color,
adults dressed up with funny glasses, wigs,
tall hats etc. to describe, learning to call
9-1-1, learning how to describe the stranger
to a "dispatcher" on a cell phone, fire
drills, physical skills, learning to use
your "big" voice and so on.
The time flies by and is done before you
know it!
Secondly, reinforcement NOT just repetition:
One of the things that we feel sets our
r.a.d.KIDS apart from other programs is that
we in fact do not have to dwell on things.
We move through topics, but because the
program is not just a one shot deal, we have
the opportunity to return and reinforce
principles from session to session in
different contexts, with different scenarios
and with different circumstances. It is
important to realize that reinforcement is
not the same as repetition.
"Is the time divided for adult training and
child training?"
There is no adult training during the
sessions in this program. It is all about
and for the kids. However, having said this,
parents are provided with a manual that
allows them to go through the material
before/after each session with their
children. We also provide homework exercises
for parents to do with their children, as
well as adult reading material for
informational purposes. This is all provided
to the parent at appropriate times as the
program progresses.
"I would like to stay for the classes - sit
in back, or whatever is appropriate - so
that I am able to use the same vocabulary
and tone to reinforce the material with my
child afterwards. I think I'd learn a lot
watching too. Would this be possible?"
Parents are welcome!!! If you have the time,
you are welcome to come, sit, watch, or best
of all - get involved if we need a pair of
hands to help out! We'll give you a
dispatcher script to read, you can wear a
stranger outfit, or maybe hold a prop or
play in a skit. If you are able to sit in on
the classes, you will be in a better
position to understand the material, to
reinforce the principles of the program and
to adapt them to your own specific
circumstances. You will also have had the
opportunity to review the manual material
along with the class lessons.
Having said this, typically parents do not
sit in the circle or interject with
questions during class. The class time is
really about interaction between the
instructor(s) and the kids. Parental
inquires are handled on the breaks amongst
the grownups. We also do not allow parents
to bring younger children to the session,
expecting that they will be able to
participate or to sit with their sibling(s)
in the circle. There is an age restriction
for a reason.
If you are in a jam and cannot make
alternate arrangements for your other
child(ren), you must let us know in advance
so that we can work something out.
PLEASE E-MAIL US WITH ANY OTHER QUESTIONS
YOU MIGHT HAVE
Learn to … “ … be there for yourself.”
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