The Personal Safety Guru

On Friday, June 4rth, a 7 year old boy named Kyron Horman disappeared from school in Oregon. He is still missing today. As a mother, I am very glad that my only child is now 24 years old and I don’t have to worry about her as much as when she was a child. However, even adults disappear these days. As much as we hate to admit it, anyone can be a target of an evil mind. Children nor adults can be 100% safe anywhere. Personal safety is almost a figment of our imagination!

So how do we protect our children while in school when their worst enemy can even be a parent, a relative, or a neighbor? I for one never allowed my child to be outside alone – not even in the backyard, never took my eyes off of her when we were out in any group – even in church, and never allowed her to sleep in someone else’s house. I didn’t even let her ride public transportation by herself until she was eighteen. Maybe I was too paranoid, but today I am thankful for that paranoia because she is still among the living.

My heart and prayer goes out to Kyron’s parents. I urge you to do everything in your power to keep your children safe.

Pepper Spray is a very popular self defense product. I say this because when I googled the phrase ” pepper spray “, I found 1,200,000 results. I find this astounding! Dont’ you?

However, could pepper spray have helped the lady in Washington state (Bethany Storro) who had acid thrown in her face by a total stranger? In other words, could the victim have reacted fast enough to spray pepper spray at the attacker?  The reports of the incident state the attacker approached Bethany as she was coming out of her car, made a statement about her “pretty face”  and threw the acid. Bethany was immediately in such pain that she could not react against her attacker.

So, the only way I see that pepper spray could have helped Bethany was if she had it in her hand when the attacker approached and immediately, without hesitation, sprayed the pepper spray. This would mean that one would have to be willing to indiscriminately use pepper spray on anyone who would approach. This kind of reaction would then put Bethany, or any one of us, on the same level as the attacker. I know for a fact that if anyone did that they would be apprehended by the police. After all, pepper spray is only legal if you use it against someone who is about to cause harm.

The only way I think pepper spray could have been beneficial would be if Bethany had been able to spray her attacker after the acid hit her face. This way the attacker would have been incapacitated herself and the police would have been able to apprehend her.  

In conclusion, although pepper spray would not have helped in this situation, I do believe every woman should carry pepper spray for self protection.

Colleges and Universities all over the country are opening their doors this month to young people seeking to be educated. This is nothing new; however, are these young people, especially young ladies, prepared with the right self defense products to defend themselves against the “crazies” of this world? The answer is most probably NOT!!! Why, you may ask? Because either they don’t know that there is such a thing as a College Survival  Kit or they feel like nothing “bad” could ever happen to them. Too many individuals have a false sense of security and prefer to just ignore the issue.

It is true that Colleges and Universities are increasing their security efforts. After all, if they didn’t a parent would not agree to send their child there. None the less, it is every young person’s right and responsibility to do everything in their power to protect themselves as well by carrying self defense products such as those found in the College Survival Kit. What better going away to college present than self defense products?

Parents and Friends, take a look at the College Survival Kit and help a college bound young person feel more secure and confident as they embark in College life.

I was disappointed to find out that Stun Guns are not allowed in U. S. Virgin Islands. You may think that this is not such a big deal; however, if you are on vacation in St. Thomas you may very well wish that you were carrying a stun gun. Why? You may ask.

Well, last week my family had the pleasure of being in Charlotte Amaly, St. Thomas for a couple of days. We had a great time shopping in the afternoon and decided to stay in town for dinner. We quickly found a quiet Italian Restaurant and spent a couple of hours devouring some very tasty food. When we were finished and ready to leave, the waiter asked us if he should call us a cab. We found this unusual and politely declined. We did need a cab to get back to our hotel but wanted to stop at a grocery store to pick up some milk for breakfast. So we asked the owner for help in finding such a grocery store. He quickly and very emphatically told us that this was not a good idea and proceeded to tell us that it is no longer safe to be out in the streets at night in St. Thomas and insisted on calling a cab for us.

Once in the cab, we asked the driver about this and he proceeded to tell us that some 15-20 years ago one could walk the streets of St. Thomas any time of day or night and be perfectly safe. However, in more recent years there has been such an influx of people into the Island that it is no longer safe to be out at night.  So, if and when you decide to visit St. Thomas remember that you can’t carry protection devices like the stun gun and plan your budget to include cab fare.

Now that you know about Rohipnol, GHB, and precautions to take so you don’t put yourself in a situation to be date raped, what should you do and not do if you find yourself in immediate danger of being raped.

Here are some things that you SHOULD DO:

• Whatever you are going to do, make sure you do it within the first 20 seconds of being alarmed. Why? Because your adrenaline is pumping hard at first and you will have the strength to put up a fight.
• Make a lot of noise. This is where a personal alarm that makes at least 120dB noise will come handy.  Also shout at the top of your voice for help or police.
• If you have a stun gun or TASER use it right away and run.
• If there is a safe place to run to, run… otherwise you may aggravate the attacker.
• Try to stall – speak softly and calmly – stay rational.
• Do anything and everything to repulse the attacker – vomit, urinate, say you have a STD or AIDS. If you are on your monthly period, say so.
• Put up a fight – if you act quickly and resist in the very beginning you will be less likely to be raped.
• Even though it is difficult, try to stay alert and notice as much detail about the attacker as possible.

What NOT TO DO:

• Don’t run if there is no place to run to.
• Be very cautious if the attacker has a weapon – you might not want to fight in this instance.
• Do not show that you’re scared and don’t cry or plead. This may be just the reaction the attacker is looking for.

If the end result is rape, make absolutely sure to do the following:

• Call 911 right away. You need help and the police will be the ones you want to see first.
• Do not clean yourself in any way (shower, douche, or bathe) until you have given all the evidence to the police. They will also want the clothes you were wearing at the time.
• Get medical attention.
• Tell someone about what just happened. The tendency is to keep it a secret but don’t. Tell a friend, police, a rape crisis counselor, or even the telephone operator.

For additional help Google “Rape Crisis Center in …..” – home city to find the nearest Rape Victim Organization to help you. Remember, this was not your fault and you did the best you could.