UG Basic School pupils schooled on self-defence
About 200 students from the University of Ghana Basic School have been taken through some self-defence techniques to defend themselves against bad people.
The training was organised by the Candace Taekwondo Academy on its second edition of the Safety-For-AlI campaign.
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The campaign is aimed at training young people in how to defend themselves when in danger.
The campaign, will among other things, teach young people non-physical self-defence, what to do when in danger and educate them on terrorism.
A lead instructor at the academy, Hannah Humphrey, explained that the initiative came about following the kidnapping case of the Takoradi girls in 2018.
She said those kidnappings were targeted at young schoolchildren and as an academy, they decided to start a campaign to “talk to them about what they do that makes them vulnerable or easy prey to these people”.
Terrorism
Ms Humphrey noted that the second edition of the campaign would educate the students on terrorism and what they should do if they experienced terrorist attacks in the future.
She said there was the need for everyone to protect themselves and that the campaign would give students the needed precaution and guidelines to defend themselves from kidnappers.
The country, she explained, was still on high alert on terrorist attacks as some foreigners were near the border.
“We are laying emphasis on terrorism. Yes, we are talking to them about their personal safety but also going a step further to teach them basic self defence.
“We are also zooming in on terrorism because we feel like now, the prime threat in our society is terrorism,” Ms Humphrey stated.
Self-defence
The Ghana National Taekwondo Team Coach, Augustus K. Agbozo, who took the students through the self-defence class said the defence went beyond blocking and striking someone.
He said the schoolchildren were taught how to use physical force to defend themselves, soft defence such as sharing their location to someone when out and also how to call for help when in danger.
Mr Agbozo advised the students not to speak to strangers and to take their Physical Education (PE) seriously saying, “When you are strong and healthy, you can run faster”.