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May 24, 2005, 10:54PM Youths learn defensive skillsSafety program teaches children how to repel an abductorBy BILL BRESLINChronicle Correspondent
Thirty youths recently graduated from a crime prevention program that helped them to deal with potentially dangerous situations.
The program, radKIDS, teaches youths how to identify inappropriate behavior and to defend themselves against it, said Sandra Baylor, a radKIDS instructor. The letters r-a-d stand for "resisting aggression defensively," Baylor said. "So many children have been abducted and abused that they need to learn how to protect themselves," Baylor said. The program covers maintaining safety in virtually every facet of a kid's life, including protecting oneself around the home, around vehicles, in school and while riding a bike, she said. The youths recently finished the program in the clubhouse of the Spring Creek Oaks subdivision in Spring. Jim Baylor, Sandra's husband, teams up with his wife to instruct the course. Jim, who is a police officer at Rice University, has been teaching radKIDS for five years, he said. "We're really tired of kids being hurt by society," he said. "This program empowers kids to defend themselves from harm." Jim , 56, provides the simulation aspect of the program. Near the end of the course, he puts on a padded suit — known in law enforcement circles as the Redman suit, he said. A situation is simulated with Jim being the abductor and each child, one at a time, playing the victim. The youths "kick, punch and elbow" the abductor in the manner they were instructed in order to get away, he said. By using the techniques taught in the course, where and how to hit the abductor, children learn to defend themselves in case the situation arises in real life, he said. The course is $25 per child. Parents who enroll more than one child can get a discount on each additional one. "You want to make crime prevention programs accessible, so we just charge enough to cover our costs," he said. Included in the charge are a manual, various handouts and application forms for the parents. The program is for children in the kindergarten through sixth grade.. "However, we've trained kids as young as 4 years old and they do very, very well," he said. Tiffany Vanderhider, whose 7-year-old daughter, Madeline, completed the class, said the course is "awesome" and strongly recommended it. "My daughter has taken two other child safety classes that were a joke," Vanderhider said. "This one is very powerful and effective." Vanderhider, 32, said that more neighborhoods should give this kind of instruction to children. "People need to be more aware," she said. "This class shows how a little person can fend off a bigger person." Leslie Ramon, who also lives in Spring, said that both of her daughters, ages 12 and 7, took the course. "It was the best $45 I've ever spent," Ramon said. Ramon, 36, said she has recommended the program to other parents. "I think my kids learned to be more aggressive and assertive in dangerous situations," she said. Sandra Baylor said she has been instructing the program for four years. There are around 4,000 instructors across the United States and Canada and radKIDS is headquartered in Massachusetts. Last July, at a convention for instructors, Sandra and Jim Baylor each won a radKIDS instructor of the year award, she said. "We're passionate about the program," she said.
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