JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After Monday night's terrifying attack on an 8-year-old girl, police are reminding parents to keep an eye on their children at all times and if they can't be there, self-defense experts are saying it's now more important than ever for parents to teach their kids about "stranger danger."
Roberto Cuartero, owner of Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, has lived in Jacksonville all his life and when he heard about the little girl who was beaten and sexually assaulted in the area where he grew up, he said it made him think about his own family.
"I have four kids and I also have an 11-year-old daughter and she's trained since she was very young. It's very difficult to deal with whenever you're talking about an adult assaulting a young girl," Cuartero said.
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Difficult enough that he became the owner of the Jiu-Jitsu studio that offers a class on stranger danger, which teaches children techniques that could save their lives.
"It's something you never want to have to implement. You hope your child will never have to use these tools but if it's not practice then what happens is panic ensues and it's a very scary situation," Cuartero said.
The class teaches children about situational awareness and demonstrates the best tool for a child being attacked is not a fist, but a child's voice, ringing out for help.
Drop, kick and yell. When a child is grabbed by a stranger Cuartero says they should drop to the ground so they are harder to move. Kick the attacker violently and yell, causing a scene to get anyone's attention.
The class also practices with backpacks, teaching kids that if someone grabs the backpack, to just drop it, giving them time to run away. The lesson being that an item can be released, but a child can't be.
"We teach them to understand your surroundings, be extremely vocal and put something between you and that attacker and run," Cuartero said. "Fear ensues from what's unfamiliar, so whenever they practice, they know what to do. They know how to respond and it helps with their confidence."
Cuartero said that he teaches these classes in four local schools and offers the seminars for free to any educational institutions that request it. For information people can head to the Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu website.