Selling Safety for Children : Self-defense: Companies offer classes and devices for youngsters to protect themselves. But some say firms are preying on parents’ fears.
First came crime, then came fear.
And then came the sales pitch.
Hawking everything from self-defense classes for children to personal safety alarms--a high-tech 1990s version of a police whistle--entrepreneurs are targeting a new and increasingly fear-ridden audience: San Fernando Valley parents.
The cottage industry has popped up in the wake of the killing of an 8-year-old Woodland Hills girl and a series of assaults by a suspected child molester. Vendors selling hand-held alarms or passing out flyers promoting self-defense courses have positioned themselves outside meetings where parents have met with police to discuss the molester. A self-defense class was being held Saturday at Serrania Avenue Elementary School, not far from where the 8-year-old, Nicole Parker, was murdered.
Some parents and school officials see the trend as a positive sign, an indicator that society is recognizing the need to address the issue of child safety. At Fullbright Avenue Elementary School in Canoga Park, PTA officials plan to promote and sell personal safety alarms, both to increase safety and raise funds to air-condition classrooms. Chatsworth Park Elementary School began selling them last month.
“We really feel parents should know there are products out there that can keep their child relatively safe,” said Jan Sandman, PTA president at Fullbright. “That’s why we want to sell them.”
Others say that some promoters are preying on the fears of parents, complicating the situation by suggesting that high-priced products and workshops are the solution.
“We’ve seen people taking an absolutely tragic set of circumstances and trying to capitalize on it,” said Eric Rose, district director for Councilwoman Laura Chick, whose office organized many of the meetings with parents in the Valley. “What we’ve tried to do is get people to take this energy and concern and move it in a positive direction.”
Patricia Hines, executive director and founder of Safe Moves, a county- and state-funded organization that promotes child safety, also says the trend is troubling.
“Parents are so panicked they’re ready to pay or do anything to make sure their kids are going to be safer,” she said. “It gives a false sense of security on the part of the parent and the child.”
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What has emerged is not only a moral debate on the ethics of marketing to an increasingly vulnerable group, but a practical debate on which methods are most effective in helping children to be safer. Are safety products and weekend workshops needed? Or is consistent education leading to a change in the behavior and attitudes of children and parents?
For the past two months, Leigh McDaniel of Granada Hills has visited parent groups and talked to school officials about personal safety products offered by Quorum International, a Phoenix-based company.
One product is the PAAL, a palm-size electronic alarm that emits a shrieking noise when activated. Another is the Personal Safety Net, a beeper-type device that monitors a child’s movements and allows a parent to page a child.
At a cost of $30 to $40, the PAAL could be expensive, particularly for large families, McDaniel said. Even so, in one low-income Van Nuys neighborhood a distributor is “selling these like crazy,” she said. “People are scraping together food money and everything else to supply these kids with these.”
At Monroe High School, administrators see things differently.
“I thought it was a financial exploitation of parents,” said Assistant Principal Alice Parrish, who rejected Quorum’s offer to sell the alarms as a fund-raiser. “My feeling is parents need to work with their children on safe practices. It is not the job of the public schools to promote people who are out to make a profit. I consider it scare tactics. You can educate without selling expensive classes and equipment.”
On Saturday, 11 boys and girls sat cross-legged on a blue mat in the Serrania auditorium, stared intently at four adults facing them and plotted ways to attack them.
The children, ages 6 to 10 1/2, outfitted in knee and elbow pads and wearing name tags, were taking part in a self-defense class that promised to teach them the skills and confidence to protect themselves if assaulted. The class, organized by a private company called The Defense Department, runs for 10 hours over a weekend and costs $125 per child.
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Parents, who laughed and clapped for their children as they practiced gouging the eyes and grabbing the genitals of two pretend attackers, said they were buying peace of mind for themselves and increased awareness for their children. The children also yelled “No!”--a simple but effective way to ward off an attack, the instructors said.
“If it would help them ever, it’s worth the money,” said Eliza Hall of Northridge, who watched as her sons, Kyle, 10, and James, 6, fought off two large men wearing protective gear. “If it keeps them safe, it’s worth it.”
Not everyone agrees that teaching children defense techniques is the best way to approach the problem.
“You teach them a couple of things and they think they’re going to be able to beat up Superman,” Hines said. “I think that’s the wrong message to be sending out.” Even if a 9-year-old knows a couple of kicks, many adults will be able to attack and subdue the child anyway, she said.
Barbara L. Gallen, who runs the Los Angeles-based Defense Department and taught Saturday’s class, disagrees. “They can defend themselves,” she said. “It’s not that hard to take out a human being. It is possible for a small person to take out a large person because human beings are very vulnerable.”
Gallen uses the analogy of a 15-pound bowling ball, which when thrown, could incapacitate a large person. “I want you to think of yourselves as bowling balls,” she told the class. “You could knock a person down with your energy.”
For Hines, the trend toward products and costly workshops is disheartening. Safe Moves is a free program designed to offer students a long-term understanding of how to avoid and respond to hazards of all sorts, in the home, neighborhood and traffic.
“The key is education,” she said. “The reason education falls to the bottom of the list is because it’s a long-term investment. It’s not a thing you can touch or buy or put on the shelf.
“You can change children’s behavior so their safety becomes second nature,” she said.
The Los Angeles Unified School District and the Los Angeles Police Department have not endorsed any of the products or workshops. “Everybody has to be guided by their own judgment,” said Lt. Bud Merringer of the West Valley Division.
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Wesley Mitchell, chief of police for the school district, cautioned parents to remember that devices work only if children have the time and presence of mind to activate them. And real defense skills require practice--particularly for children.
But some parents, such as Debbie Verdi of Reseda who organized Saturday’s defense class and enrolled her 11- and 8-year-old daughters, say that any techniques they can offer their children are better than nothing.
“They can do something,” Verdi said. “I want them to have some resources to rely on. I’d rather them be cautious and prepared and aware. Then I’m not so scared.”
