You may know someone who's been bullied, physically
assaulted, or even raped. Or
maybe you've been in an unsafe situation where you felt threatened.
According to the National Crime Prevention Council, young people ages 12 to 24
are the group most likely to be victims of crimes such as rape, assault,
and robbery. Many of these crimes occur at school, on the street, or at a park
or playground.
The good news is that you can learn to protect yourself and you don't
even need a black belt. Keep reading for tips on defending yourself, so the next
time you feel threatened you'll know what you can do about it.
What Is
Self-Defense?
For starters, let's shatter the myth that
self-defense only means fighting, such as hitting, kicking, and punching. "I use
the term personal safety [instead of self-defense], which is a concept where an
individual has a full range of skills and tools to deal with a full range of
uncomfortable or potentially dangerous situations," says Donna Chaiet, coauthor
of The Safe Zone.
According to Chaiet, personal safety requires four things: awareness, body
language, self-esteem,
and boundaries. Setting boundaries is probably the most important concept for
you to understand. Knowing your boundaries allows you to make better safety
choices.
Boundaries come in two forms: physical boundaries represent the space between
you and another person and emotional boundaries are lines you draw in terms of
how you let other people treat you. For example, suppose you have a friend who
constantly shares your secrets with other people. Unless you let him know how
you feel, he will never know that he is invading a boundary. However, if you do
make your feelings known and he continues with the behavior that bothers you, he
isn't respecting your feelings - and is overstepping that boundary.
So what does this have to do with self-defense? According to Chaiet,
knowing your own boundaries puts you in a better position to recognize when
you're in a potentially dangerous situation. If you're confident and you have a
healthy self-esteem, you will more readily sense when trouble is near.
