Posted at: 10/27/2012 11:35 PM
By: Brittany Lewis
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Email to a FriendKids Learn Self-Defense Techniques to Prevent Bullying
(ABC 6 News) -- With each kick of the board, kids at the Mason City Black Belt Academy weren’t just working on karate tricks, they were learning how to defend themselves from bullies.
"We went over some basic self-defense techniques, ones that they can use in school, that take appropriate and send the right signals to teachers and other people around them,” said Raul Carolus, the owner of Mason City Black Belt Academy.
Instead of the usual martial art uniforms, the kids were dressed in costumes. The instructors at the academy using Halloween safety to teach the kids the techniques.
"Some of the techniques we taught were blocking and things like that. So if a bully comes up and punches you, you can use one of the blocking techniques to not get hit and we also taught them how to stop being pushed, being grabbed, or being kicked,” Carolus added.
Shantel Howe’s son is in kindergarten. While he hasn’t witnessed bullying yet, it’s something they’ve discussed.
"It's something that we're just starting to talk about so it was a really good lesson for him,” said Howe.
She feels learning these techniques will help him if he ever is bullied.
"I think you should try to use your words first and solve it that way and if it doesn't work I guess you have to defend yourself, so this is a good lesson to teach your kids if the words don't work then there's other ways to prevent it from happening,” said Howe.
While the kids spent the day learning how to defend themselves from bullies, the instructors also stressed the importance of helping others who are being bullied.
"If you have a whole bunch of people who are good third parties and they step in and stop the bullies, pretty soon the bullies aren't going have any more targets with someone stepping in the bully will go down,” said Carolus.
The kids also heard tips from a Mason City Police Officer on Halloween safety.
