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Published Jul 20, 2005 - 22:25:41 CDT.
TPD offers Rad Kids course
By Ken Rogers, The Messenger
The Troy Police Department will offer its next safety empowerment course for children ages 8-10 on Saturday.
"We don't teach them to fight; we teach them to try to take advantage of opportunities to get away from a potential abductor," said officer Michael O'Hara, who will teach the course with officer Julita Brown. "In light of several recent child abductions around the nation, we wanted to let everyone know we offer this course and a couple others that could help a child get out of a dangerous situation."
This course offering Saturday is Rad Kids. It will be taught at the First Baptist Church Activities Building from 9 a.m. until noon. There is no charge for the program. Rad Kids - on the Web at radkids.org - promotes safety awareness for children in everyday situations as well as dangerous ones.
"Rad Kids teaches home safety, vehicle safety, out and about safety, school safety, strangers' tricks and good touch-bad touch," O'Hara said. "It does include some basic self-defense that could give them opportunities to get away. Mom and Dad can't be with them 24 hours a day. There are going to be times when a child is going to be on their own. I can remember when you could play all day outside until well past the street lights came on and it would never be a problem. You just can't say that anymore."
O'Hara said this class is designed for ages 8 to 10. "We do have a similar class for ages 5 to 7 that material is geared toward younger kids," he said.
The Troy Police Department tries to offer the program two or three times a year for all age groups, he said.
Another course offered by TPD is Escape Kids classes. "We taught that last weekend," O'Hara said. "It covers things that kids should do if they are in an abduction situation. Abductors don't want to waste time. They get a child and get out quickly. We teach a grip, dip and spin move that is designed to keep them at that crime scene longer. An abductor doesn't want to struggle for a victim. They might get panicked and leave that scene if the child can squirm and struggle away."
O'Hara said parents are encouraged to attend Rad Kids. "We want them to be there because they can participate in the classes. We want to get them involved," he said. "The children will be given an activity book. The parents get a parents manual that reviews everything we've gone over. They can take it home. If for some reason in a month or two they need to cover something on home safety, they can pull the manual out and have it right there."
O'Hara said he and officer Brown love working with children. "I wish I had taken this course when I was little," he said. "The kids are great to work with. The idea isn't to scare anybody. But just being aware of conditions that could be dangerous may help a child avoid a problem. We cover things like having a password. If a parent and child have a password and a stranger comes up to them and says your dad wanted me to bring you home - if the stranger knows the password then the child would know it was safe. There are several things like that we go over."
O'Hara said it isn't necessary to pre-register for the class on Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon. But anyone with questions or anyone wanting to sign up early can call 670-2249.
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