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Reminder Assistant Editor WILBRAHAM Over 250,000 women have attended the Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) Basic Physical Defense program since its inception in 1989. From Aug. 6 - 10, the Wilbraham Police Department hopes to add a few more women to those ranks. "It's a very popular class for girls and women of all ages," said Debbie Kelder, Membership Director at the Scantic Valley YMCA. As of July 25, three women were registered for the upcoming course. There is a limit of 20 for the class, due to the physical strain on the instructors, Officers Paradis and Laviolette. Paradis started teaching the RAD program to women six years ago, with Laviolette joining him four years ago. "It's an empowerment program and a way for women to build confidence," Laviolette explained. "We're teaching them how to avoid bad situations and what to do if they're involved in a bad situation. "We teach some basic self-defense, giving women the skills they need to escape attackers," he added. The program is designed for the average woman with no previous experience or background in physical skills training. Generally geared for young women ages 13 and up, the RAD program begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and risk avoidance lessons, progressing on to basics of hands-on defense training. Mothers and daughters are encouraged to participate together, as are high school- and college-aged women. Laviolette said that the best way to teach the class is to have a student to instructor ratio of 6:1, but with adult students it's easier to have larger classes. At the end of the week-long class, each woman will engage in three or four attack scenarios with the instructors, which can wear them out, so larger classes are discouraged. "We've had about 200 students go through the program since it was implemented here," Laviolette said. "We do two to three classes a year, depending on the available manpower we have on the force." He added that support from nearby police departments, such as the one in Palmer, have made teaching the classes much easier. Kathleen Winiewicz of Hampden is a former student of the RAD program and now works as an instructor alongside the police department. "You never know what could happen," she said. "We teach women how to be careful and what to do if they're grabbed from behind, from the front or attacked in other ways." Winiewicz stressed that those who do take the program keep the information to themselves. "Never let others know what you've learned, or they may be able to use it against you," she warned. In addition to the classes run by the officers, Laviolette said that the police department is trying to introduce an in-school RAD program for high school seniors. "It's important for girls to know these things," he said. The class runs from Aug. 6 - 10 every night from 7:15 - 9:30 p.m. To register, please call the YMCA at 596-2749. There is a $5 admission fee paid to the YMCA. If you have any additional questions, contact Officers Paradis or Laviolette at the Wilbraham Police Department at 596-3837. | ||||||
