ABDUCTION PREVENTION SEMINAR

It’s a simple move, perhaps many have repeated the motion as a
strength training or cardio exercise. But to Sensei Melissa Bopp, the maneuver, though sometimes awkward in appearance, might be one of the best tactics to ward off would-be attackers.

That’s what Bopp and a handful of volunteers and students at Tiger Schulman’s Mixed Martial Arts dojo demonstrated last month. Their exercise and lesson in abduction prevention served as an educational tool rather than a scare tactic or shock value.

Along with police officers and her older karate students, Bopp delivered an important message of safety to children and their parents. The light-hearted approach, Bopp said, is an entertaining way to deliver the serious message.

“We really want to open the lines of communication between children and their parents. Both child and adult should know and be aware of these things,” Bopp told Hackensack Chronicle prior to the Saturday morning seminar.

The abduction prevention seminar provided children and their parents with several safety recommendations and touched on subjects such as having special code words, creating rules when a child is left home alone, encountering strangers and using Internet chat rooms safely.

Ashlee Woodruff/staff photographer

Everyone’s a stranger
Det. Tim Kaminski of the Clifton Police Department spoke with the 50 or so attendees, who hailed from South Hackensack, Rutherford and Lodi, among other towns. Dressed in full officer attire for the presentation, Kaminski said he’s easily recognizable as law enforcement. But on the job, he usually blends in with the public.

“As a detective, I’m usually in regular clothes. How would any of you know that I’m a policeman?” he said, polling the room’s younger listeners. “If I came to your house and asked if your parents were home, how would you answer if they weren’t there?”

“They’re on the phone and can’t come to the door.”
“My dad working in the office upstairs; I don’t want to bother him. Can you come back?”
“If I look out the window and see a stranger, I won’t open the door.”

Pleasantly surprised, Kaminski congratulated the students for their intuitive and thoughtful answers.

“Strangers could be good or bad. Strangers can be nice or mean. If you don’t know the person, you don’t have to do anything that person says,” he said. “You don’t have to open the door for someone you don’t know; you don’t have to tell the person that your parents are home.”

“If you’re ever uncomfortable, call the police right away and don’t worry. We worry for you,” he added.

As much as he stressed his lessons to the children, Kaminski told the parents who were watching that they should continue to emphasize the points of safety at home. Before they leave an adolescent unattended at the home, a parent or guardian should always review with the child how to properly lock and unlock doors and windows, how to contact police or someone the family trusts, and what to do in case of an emergency.

“Parents,” Kaminsky said, “I only talk to your kids for 15 minutes. You have to talk to them for the rest of their lives.”

“Employ the code word system when they go out,” he said, explaining that parents should always give their child a secret or safe word. When an adult uses the word or phrase properly, a child will know whether or not that person can be trusted, Kaminski said.

Sensei Melissa Bopp

Practice, practice, practice
Bopp, along with fellow instructor Malek Shamoun, teaches several forms of martial arts at the Tiger Schulman’s location in Hackensack. Some coordination and physical ability is needed in the lessons, said Bopp, but part of mastering the moves takes practice and repeated motion.

“It’s a lot of memorization, and the students remember the forms through repetition. After repetition, repetition, repetition, it will all eventually click,” she said. “It’s the same way in life.”

Shamoun said they use same philosophy when they teach seminars at the dojo. Before the recent abduction prevention seminar, Bopp and Shamoun offered classes on bullying, as well as safety classes for women and children.

“We want our students to be well rounded. The seminars are not only open to our students, but they’re also open to everyone in the community for free,” Shamoun said.

Abduction prevention wasn’t a one-shot deal at Tiger Schulman’s. The course will be offered again in coming weeks for residents who were unable to attend last month’s program.

“We get a lot of repeat participants, too,” said Bopp. “Again, the more lessons people get and the more exposure they have to the right things and what to do in certain situations will only help them.”

The best defense
As Bopp and her students demonstrated how kicking in the air can prevent, or at least slow, an attack, Shamoun reminded everyone that using martial arts and fighting should always be the last line of defense.

“God forbid you’re trapped in close quarters, but 90 percent of all fights end up on the ground,” he said. “That’s why we teach the students ways to avoid getting into those situations.”

“The best defense is to never be in one of those compromising situations. And if they know how to act responsibly, they’ll always be safe.”