Friday, July 5, 2013

Self DEFENSE Teach your College Bound Child the Skills. It happened to ME and it could happen to them!


The Time is upon us... Your sweet bright eyed 18 year old is heading off to college in the fall!!  Mom and Dad are frantically preparing for that moment when they have to load her up and send her on her way.

I have loved hearing all the stories of college visits, first time views of the campus and all that awaits your high school homecoming queen.

Can you remember your first week of being at college?  I can!!!  It was a very FRIGHTENING Experience that could have left me a victim of assault, rape or worse.

THIS IS a REAL STORY Told by Me and I can only pass this info along for Moms and Dads to be aware of the dangers of an Unprepared Naive First Time College Student.  It happened to me and it can happen to anyone.


When I began college I was 17 years old.  I am from the late bloomers generation where you put your kid in kindergarten when he/she turns 4.  So needless to say, I began college at a very young age.  I was naive, young, innocent and unaware of the rest of the world beyond my small town.  NO crime... no worries and many nights of doors unlocked and safety was not a concern.

When I arrived on campus at a BIG Ten University... I was excited and ready to meet and greet any old stranger that would look my way.   I was a transfer student and had spent a semester at a Junior College prior to attending the university.  My first week was during the mid of January.  It was cold and snowy.  I arrived earlier than the remaining students due to the priviledges of living in a dorm that offered midterm classes to foreign exchange students.   SO .. there were very little students on campus ... mostly foreign exchange students.

I decided to get a jump on the semester and grab the text books from the library for some upcoming courses.  I went to the undergrad library which is brilliantly built underground with a few winding stairwells and long dimly lit hallways.  Great for anyone who is looking to get ass raped.

I planted myself within distance from a group of Asian Students who didn't understand QUIET Zones in the library meant TO BE QUIET.  Between the asian Students, myself and a few librarian workers ... I think that was the total count in the underground library.  Guess who was cleary without a group?  ME!

(NOTE:  Parents... my first mistake .. NEVER EVER go alone... always be in a Group)

I looked up and hadn't noticed a strange professor looking type gentleman sitting across from me near the periodical section.  He was reading a newspaper, wore a pair of glasses, he had a pair of nicely pressed pants on, a jacket with arm pads on the elbows and a page boy hat.  I remember he had strange facial hair on his upper lip.  TO me he looked like a typical University Professor.

I had to go up to the library desk to check out a book and when I came back.  He decided to move to a seat at my table.  There were numerous tables around me with plenty of seating but he chose to sit two seats away from me at the table I was seating at. STRANGE HUH?  I began to read the book I checked out and couldn't help but feel the strangers eyes peering over his newspaper at me.  IT was creeping me out.  I began to pack up and realized that it was dinner time and I needed to head back to my dorm before it was dark.

I headed up to the library desk to retrieve my I.D.  I happen to glance back and saw that the strange gentleman was watching me and waiting for me to leave.  He was up and ready to go.  I knew it and I remember thinking ... I CAN MAKE IT HOME!  I am going to book it out of here.  This guy is freaking me out and the sooner I can get safely back to my dorm the better off I will be.

 (INSERT.. STUPID, NAIVE and completely unaware that a sociopath was hunting me like prey)

NOTE:  PARENTS this is where you teach your child to tell someone .. NOT run or make a foolish mistake but be aware and don't be afraid to ask for help.  

I put my back pack over my shoulder and began down the dimly lit hallway and was heading up the first flight of stairs.  I looked back and saw that the man was coming down the hallway with a fast pacing walk.   I took my backpack and put the other strap onto my other shoulder and began running up the flight of stairs. I burst through the door out onto into the open air and saw that the sun was going down pretty quickly and I had a few blocks to walk with alleyways in between to get to my dorm.

NOTE:  Parents teach your child never to go walking on campus alone at night for any reason.  Always call a friend, or utilize campus security transportation.

I looked back to see that he was closing in on me.  My speed walk turned into a quick sprint.  He started galloping towards me.   About 150 feet in the distance was a road construction crew packing up for the day.  I ran towards them with such speed that I was even amazed with how fast I could book it.  I crossed the road and stood right in the middle of the construction crew.  The man who was locking up the excavator saw that I was frantic and walked towards me.  He said, "Miss... do you need some help?"  I could barely catch my breath... I said "Yeah!!  That man is following me.. and he is scaring me!  I need some help."

The construction guy yelled at his fellow employees, "Come over here.. she needs help.  Who is following you?"  I replied, "That man!"  Just as I pointed to the gentleman across the street, he stopped, turned around and ran back towards the library.  The construction guy asked if we needed to call the cops.  I told him... "NO NO... just watch me and make sure I make it into the doorway of my dorm 300 feet from where we are standing."

NOTE:  Parents... this was another time where I should have called the cops and stayed with the construction workers until the cops arrived.  I SHOULD have REPORTED The Strange SOCIOPATH Gentleman to the police.  TO this DAY... I get a horrible knot in my stomach when I think about how I let this man go and potentially terrorize another female college student.

The construction workers watched me as I ran home and I waved at them as I was walking through the front doorway.

I swear... I was within moments away of being a rape victim, a kidnapped victim or even worse.

While working and living on the campus over the course of the next few years.  I smartened up.  I would hear of stories of girls getting raped at parties that I was at.  Many girls were too drunk to understand what was happening to them before it was too late.

I would hear about a sociopath who would come on campus and flash his penis at ladies in the library.  No one could catch this guy until after a few years of continual reporting of incidents like this happening.  (I heard from a retired cop from the campus area-that he was a sociopath and would masterbate in library while watching women come and go)

We would hear about a group of guys that came on campus after the bars closed to wait for a young victim (MALE) that would decide to walk home alone and they would attack violently.

It happens and rarely do you hear it reported unless someone is killed or badly beaten.

NO one wants to think that an university campus is unsafe!  Otherwise, every parent would be afraid to send their kid there.


MY PERSONAL STORY has prepared me to educate my children years before I send them off to college.  HERE Are just some suggestions for your college bound sweetheart!


During the summer prior to their first fall semester, take the time to educate your child of the dangers.


1.  LEARN SELF DEFENSE TECHNIQUES

2.  ENCOURAGE your child to always be in a group

3.  FIND out about CAMPUS SECURITY and what they offer to keep students safe

4.  ARM THEM with TOOLS to help with Self Defense


I carried an alarm that I could pull that would send off a loud signal.  I also had mace on a chain.  The mace I carried was cumbersome to use, however, they make wonderful mace guns that are fool proof and easy to use.






MACE PINK Spray GUNS are amazing and I definitely encourage your child to have one on them at all times.

NOTE:  PARENTS Teach your child how to properly use a MACE Pepper Spray Gun 




Many sororities will offer self defense seminars for all of their actives or recruitments.


This is an awesome clip showing how Self Defense can be taught to a large group of women college students.  YOUR Child needs to know the basics in self defense.  IT could be the difference between victim or survivor.

PLEASE PLEASE as the summer is getting closer to the end and your precious first born is preparing for his/her first experience of college life......

PREPARE them to be self aware, confident, in control, and always aware of their surroundings!  Don't be a fool.. ask for help and always stay in groups!

The more confidence you can teach them the more confident you will feel when dropping off your offspring at the doorsteps of adulthood.


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