This week, our Harrodian School Parents' Association (HSPA) was delighted to offer a 'Student/Parent Empowerment, through self-defence workshop' run by the charity Action Breaks Silence for Upper Prep, Seniors and Sixth Form parents and students. 
Earlier this term, Debi (founder of Action Breaks Silence) delivered a school assembly about street safety and will also be returning in the summer term to run self-defence lessons for our 12s and 13s (Year 8/9) pupils (during the school day), with plans to hopefully roll out a stage 2 workshop for our 14s (Year 10) pupils. 
But this week's workshop took place after school and included both our pupils and parents from our 11s/Year 7 upwards. As with most things in life, violence and abuse has evolved and, since parents were teenagers, much has changed. When Action Breaks Silence held focus groups with young people in the UK, it realised that it was vital to involve the parents to help ‘update’ the safety strategies they discuss within their families.
For the first hour of the workshop parents and pupils were taught separately. This gave the instructors an opportunity to really be honest with both groups in an age appropriate way. The priority for pupils was to learn about avoiding dangerous situations and where necessary diffusing them either verbally or with body language, whereas parents were challenged to think about teaching their children 'not to be nice' if the situation demanded it. 
After this, both groups were brought back together in the school theatre where they watched different self defence strategies acted out by Debi and her team, identified target points of the body where pain could be inflicted and then practised some key manoeuvres that could disarm an attacker. All of the participants then had the chance to be 'attacked' by one, then two, highly trained and well-padded instructors. The workshop was very practical in terms of advice and physicality and no prior experience was needed.
The workshop was a brilliant way to empower our pupils and parents to own their bodies and explore their dynamic strength, to help promote positive attitude, build confidence in individual capability and reframe victimisation and fear.
All funds raised from this workshop will go to Action Breaks Silence, a registered charity, and will enable them to continue to deliver community intervention, free of charge, at disadvantaged primary schools in South Africa, India and London. 
If you attended this course and would be keen to learn more, or you missed it but would like the chance to attend one then please register your interest by emailing website@harrodian.com