VERO BEACH — Teaching the safety and defense skills children need to potentially save their own lives is one thing that keeps Vero Beach Police Officer John Morrison motivated to don the “Red Man” foam suit and brave the punches, kicks and gouges from those graduating his RADKids class – the culminating event of a 5-day program held three times each year.
“They always find an opening,” Officer Morrison said of the children. “They can wail on you.”
The department is offering the free 5-day program starting July 30, but registration is required by July 25 to ensure a spot in the class.
Children ages 5 to 12 are encouraged to participate and will be separated into two age-appropriate classes, those 5-7 and 8-12.
RADKids is a national program, which started in Massachusetts. RAD stands for Resist Aggression Defensively and involves teaching children from beginning to end personal safety.
Officer Morrison will teach the children about home safety, including how to best answer the door when someone rings the bell, what to do in the event of a fire, how to be safe around pools, and what to do if there is a strange animal in the yard – be it a snake, spider or stray dog.
“And that’s before you leave the house,” he said after rattling off even more topics Home Safety would cover.
The course will cover the “very basic stuff” parents often over-look or don’t take the time to teach their children, the officer said.
The different age groups will be taught different ways to handle various situations.
“Obviously, a 5-year-old isn’t going to beat up an adult,” Officer Morrison said. But that doesn’t mean a 5-year-old can’t place a well-timed kick to the shin or elbow to the ribs.
Children will also be taught how to scream – drawing attention to themselves when they feel threatened.
“They know how to scream on the playground or at home with their brother or sister,” Officer Morrison said, adding that, when faced with danger, children – and adults, too – tend to freeze or fight silently.
“It’s really amazing what happens between Monday and Friday,” the officer said of the children’s transformations. They go from blindly obeying adults to discerning when an adult might not mean them well.
When he puts on the “Red Man” suit and becomes the “bad guy,” the children have the courage to fight back.
“It’s like grabbing a snake,” Officer Morrison said.
The officer has been running the program through the Vero Beach Police Department for about seven years. And in that time, there has been at least one case where a graduate of the program saved her life and possibly her friend’s life when a stranger approached at a park.
Officer Morrison recounted an incident at a park where a truck driver approached two 9-year-old girls and tried to get one of them into his truck. One of the girls, who attended the RAD Kids program, screamed and ran home and told her parents, who alerted authorities.
The truck driver was later found not far from the park. According to Officer Morrison, the girl’s quick action saved her own life, and possibly that of her friend and other children.
The class runs for 1 ½ hours each day – from 9 to 10:30 a.m. for the younger kids and from 2 to 3:30 p.m. for the older ones. Classes require a minimum of eight children and are limited to 15 maximum.
The location of the program, Vero Beach Police P.B.A House, is provided at no cost. The free program doesn’t cost the City of Vero Beach or the Vero Beach Police Department anything to offer, according to Officer Morrison, who is a certified instructor in the program.
“I like to see the change from Monday to Friday,” Officer Morrison said, explaining the children go from being submissive to having confidence. Their “self-confidence has gone through the roof.”
Anyone interested in registering their child in the program or learning more about RADKids, can call Officer John Morrison at (772) 978-4649 or visit www.VBPD.org and click “Child Safety.”
