Lake County scouts get lesson in self-defense
A group of girls screamed their heads off at the library Saturday in Gurnee, and no one told them to shush.
Police were not called, either. Actually, a police officer told them to scream.
A personal safety course taught by Buffalo Grove police Cpl. Clifford Paul drew members of Lake County's Chocolate Chips organization to a meeting room at the Warren-Newport Library in Gurnee to understand who may attack them and what to do if it happens. The group includes girls between 7 and 12 from throughout Lake County and southern Wisconsin and is affiliated with the Girl Scouts,
Paul told the Chips that the best weapon is their lungs.
"Whenever something bad starts to happen, whenever you feel like you are in danger, you scream," Paul told his audience. "You scream 'Stranger, stranger, don't touch me' and you keep screaming it until you are safe."
He told the girls that they have to be prepared to fight back should someone try to grab them or lure them into a car, and that they should not be concerned about being ladylike in response to a threat.
After strapping on protective pads to his lower legs, Paul had each of the girls come forward and showed them a way to "bust a move." He carefully guided them into kicking him in his lower shin where a person not wearing pads would feel intense pain because of the nerves gathered there.
"You just shove your toes into that area harder than you've ever kicked anything before," Paul said. "When the bad guy loosens his grip on you, turn around, run and start screaming."
He taught the children that the ground can be their best friend in times of stress through such techniques as the "Flopping Fish," in which the girls dropped to their backs and flayed wildly with their legs and arms as they spun to face their attacker.
Bad guys don't come with labels, Paul told the girls as he held up a poster with pictures of two seedy-looking characters, a couple of guys wearing ties and a pair of cable television personalities.
The girls were asked to point out the stranger they should avoid, and while most targeted the seedy-looking guys, one girl raised her hand with the right answer.
"They all are," she said. Paul congratulated her for understanding that someone she did not know may intend harm.
"You all have a little alarm inside you that will tell you 'This person is not making me feel right,'" Paul said. "Never, ever ignore that alarm and find someone you trust every time you hear it."