Kids learn how to avoid strangers

Thursday, June 02, 2005

By Janet Meana

The Grand Rapids Press

ALLENDALE TOWNSHIP -- If a car pulled up and the driver held out a letter and asked you to drop it into a nearby mailbox, would you?

Ottawa County deputies Chris Dill and Kerri Cannata are teaching kids to say "no" when a stranger asks for help. By reaching for the letter, children put themselves in a vulnerable situation, they said.

"You don't want to get within three giant steps of a stranger's car," Dill told kids last week at the first radKIDS class in Allendale Township. "You don't want a stranger close enough to grab you."

Earlier this year, Dill and Cannata, community police officers in the township, attended a three-day training session on radKIDS.

RadKIDS Inc. is a national nonprofit organization that teaches kids how to recognize danger and avoid or escape it. About 75,000 kids have gone through the 10-hour program.

"It's a high-energy, interactive program," Dill said.

Lisa Thiss watched as her 9-year-old daughter, Jessica, participated in last week's class.

"I think it's awesome," she said. "I have two other daughters I'll be signing up."

Kids learn to take a defensive stance and yell "stay back" if a stranger approaches them. They also learn an array of strikes and kicks and how to yell "no, no, no" when they are resisting.

"She'll know the proper way to defend herself rather than freak out or freeze," Thiss said of Jessica.

"It's fun to learn about what you should do when people try to get you," said Meghan Haight, 10.

On the last day of class last week, Dill donned a red padded suit and played the part of a bad guy. The kids, protected with knee and elbow pads and helmets, had to use their new skills to get away from him.

"When you practice, it becomes second nature," Cannata told the kids.

Ottawa County Undersheriff Greg Steigenga said this is the first time radKIDS has been offered in the county.

Steigenga said he hopes to expand the program beyond Allendale.