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Youths In Brandon Get Education In Self-Protection

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 7, 2008

BRANDON - Andrew Hathcox remembered the man carried a yellow backpack and wore a red baseball hat. He wasn't certain, but he thought the guy also wore a bright blue shirt beneath his baseball jacket.

Taking care to remember as many details as possible, Andrew, 11, dutifully described the stranger who tried to grab him.

Fortunately, the scenario was only a simulation. Andrew was one of a handful of children participating in a recent r.a.d.KIDS personal education safety class offered at Child Protection Education of America in Brandon.

The scary stranger in the simulation was retired University of South Florida police Officer Bill Pollock, who helps teach the self-defense classes with Wendy Vazquez Ernest.

During the weeklong series of classes, students use a dummy nicknamed Rocko and get a chance to pound on a real-life bad guy when Pollock dresses in padded training gear.

They also learn to take actions to protect themselves from would-be kidnappers - things that otherwise would be forbidden, such as knocking over store displays and locking their arms around a store clerk's legs.

For information, call Ernest at (813) 205-2091 or e-mail wendy@find-missing-children.org, or Pollock at (813) 416-9008 or Bill@find-missing-children.org.

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