Low Attendance at Ramapo’s Rape Aggression Defense Classes

By HOPE PATTI

Lack of attendance at recent Rape Aggression Defense classes resulted in cancellation of classes three weeks in a row, according to public safety officers at Ramapo College.

“RAD classes were introduced and are offered to give females an opportunity to be proactive.” Some students have noted that there are no classes available to men and that men are not able to take the same RAD classes as women. Public safety is “planning to add the RAD For Men program very soon,”said Tray, a public safety officer also a member of the campus outreach program. 

The RAD class, a total of nine hours, is divided into three sessions and students receive a certificate of completion at the end.

Tray  said, “For the first time, no one signed up or showed up for the first two nights but generally, the turnout to RAD is pretty good.”

Female students that attended the RAD class were disappointed that it was cancelled. Sophomore nursing student, Cara Sablowsky said she thought it was important for students to have the opportunity to learn self defense skills.

Other female students that went to the class thought that the lack of attendance was interesting especially because of recent events on Ramapo’s campus and hoped that the classes would resume. There have been numerous reports of sexual assaults on campus in the past year and the lack of interest in RAD surprised students.

LISTEN: Cara Sablowsky’s thoughts on the Rape Aggression Defense class being cancelled. 

 

BENEFITS OF LEARNING SELF DEFENSE

Students would like to have the opportunity to take self defense classes where they could learn lifesaving skills. “I’d love to learn self defense. There have been several instances on and off campus when I didn’t feel safe and I think knowing self defense could have helped me if something did happened,” said Carly Nelson, sophomore nursing student.

Different styles of self defense may be offered at gyms, community centers and martial arts schools by certified instructors.

According to Livestrong, learning self defense offers a variety of benefits to people of all ages. The main benefit being safety. These classes teach people how to defend themselves in dangerous situations that they may encounter. An important lesson of any  self defense class is “learning how to take advantage of time and space to make a quick getaway.”

Self defense classes offer exercise benefits that can improve a persons overall health, physical condition and mentality. The moves and techniques that are taught in self defense classes improve strength, coordination, balance and stamina that would help defeat an attacker. Learning self defense improves self-confidence by helping people become more aware of their surroundings and preparing for the unexpected. Knowing self defense allows people to rely on their skills to defend themselves, according to Livestrong.

The next set of RAD classes will be held again from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on March 8, March 22 and March 29 in B-227, for any questions email public safety outreach at psoutreach@ramapo.edu.