KAREN SEIDMAN THE GAZETTE April 6, 1993
George Manoli calls it the “uhoh” feeling and he wants children to leam to listen to it.
You might get it when you find yourself walking home from school alone and it’s getting dark.
You might get it when you’re alone in the house and the doorbell nngs.
Or when a stranger strikes up a conversation with you.
“We tend to neglect that feeling and we shouldn’t – it’s a warning,” said Manoli. a self-defence teacher and police constable at Station 15.
Learning to heed one’s “uh-oh” feeling is just a small part of Manoli’s new self-defense course for children aged 10 to 13. It is being of:’ fered at the West Island YMCA.
Manoli will focus on assault prevention, but his hands-on course will also have children act out dangerous scenarios. In addition to learning how to be a tough target, they learn how to deal with gangs, what to do if they’re being followed and how to handle an armed assailant.
“It’s not my goal to scare the children – I just want them to have heightened awareness,” said Manoli, who has a black belt in karate.
He said the course may not be essential but can’t hurt a child’s chances of escaping harm in a world where gangs and sexual abuse are increasingly common.
And he hopes to soon introduce a similar course for children aged 6 to 9. Manoli said he spends a lot of time playing “what-if” games with his 3-year-old son because he wants him to think on his feet.
“Assault prevention takes more than a parent just say iug don’t do this or don’t do that,” he said.
“Children have to be able to think on their feet because that’s what helps when Someone approaches them and tries to unbalance them.”
Dollard des Ormeaux resident Susan Curtin said that she and her daughter,.Stephanie, were delighted when they saw the course advertised.
Stephanie, 11, will begin high school downtown this fall and will be using public transportation for the first time.
“It’s frightening having your l1-year-old out on her own,” Curtin said.
“I thought this was a good idea tb help prepare her for being downtown and out in public.”
She said she didn’t worry that the course might make Stephanie overly nervous.
“It will make her aware and being prepared will give her confidence – and that’s the name of the game,” Curtin said.
Karen Schell, adult-program coordinator at the West Island YMCA, said the course, which began last week, has 14 children registered and is full. There’s even a waiting list, she said.
“We hear more stories of violence and kids having weapons in the schools so it seems there’s more of a need for this of course now”, Schell said in an interview.
“It might give some parents peace of mind to know at least the child has Some kimd of training on how to get out of a bad situation without getting hurt themselves.”
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