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Recently on Facebook there has been a post about human trafficking. The woman states as she was shopping at her local grocery, a man was following her down the aisles and recording her with his phone. He even followed her down the "women's aisle" which confirmed her fears. Luckily she was aware and had an employee from the store walk her to her car. Unfortunately, this type of story is becoming more common.
Young children and females are usually the targets for predators. As a female growing up in a large city, I was taught early on about the dangers of walking alone, holding my purse in front of me, parking in well lit areas and always scanning the area. Most women I know are aware of all of these little tips. But now living in a smaller community I got a false sense of security.
As we become more aware of the different dangers we now have to face in today's society made me think of how often do we talk to our loved ones about personal safety. Often, especially right before school starts, I have a few phone calls from worried parents of daughters going off to college asking to teach self defense in one month or less. I am always a bit hesitant because I don't want to give the parents a false sense of security. Sure I can teach a couple of techniques but the key is, will they have the confidence and clarity at that time to use them?
As with most things, practice makes better. The same goes for self defense. Self defense techniques are great but will the person have the ability under stress to carry them out? We all hope we will be able to act in a threatening situation but the truth is, we never know until we are in that situation. Buiilding the confidence and practicing techniques over time until it becomes a reflex, in my opinion is the best way you can prepare for a situation.
We all want to be as safe as we can in today's world. Confidence and self awareness is the first steps to personal safety. Start them young, but also you are never too old to start.