Self-defense, “stranger danger,” safety skills, and anti-bullying techniques are all important things to know in an “increasingly dangerous world,” according to the Boys and Girls Club of Warwick, which is why two officers from the Warwick Police Department have taught five classes to members of the Oakland Beach branch of the club this fall.

Through the Warwick Police Department’s “radKIDs” program – a national self-defense program of which Warwick is the only department that teaches in Rhode Island – ten kids aged 10 to 12 have been learning about stranger awareness and how to deal with a variety of dangerous situations.

Branch Director Monique Rossi had heard about the program that was being run in Warwick Schools and got Warwick officers in last June to teach younger members of the club about safety.

This time around, it was the older members of the club who learned about safety techniques, and this age, from 10 to 12, is the best age to teach these methods to, according to one of the instructors, Jill Marshall.

“This age is perfect,” she said. “Anything younger and you’d have to change the curriculum.”

Instructor Al Marano added that for the older kids there are more things to teach and the kids can better absorb the teachings, and hands-on techniques, in a meaningful way.

Marshall and Marano are two of five Warwick Police certified to teach the program (a week-long certification course is required, according to Marano). Marshall works as the school resource officer at Winman Junior High School and Marano is an officer on the force.

Marshall said that the course is especially important because most parents don’t know how to teach self-defense properly and because the classes talk about things that aren’t discussed in school, like “good and bad touches.”

In the course, they start with basic skills, like knowing how and when to call 911. They then get into more serious things like how to defend themselves if abducted or should someone try to kidnap them. They teach kids to identify a “good stranger” versus a “bad stranger,” so they know when to run away from a situation or to alert someone for help.

The officers instruct the kids on what to do when they have been abducted and are stuck in a car, for example. They told them to bang on windows, bring attention to themselves however they can, and if they have to cause an accident so be it. One of the kids, Bella, said she’d be worried about hurting other people if she did this, but Marshall told her that their safety is most important.

They even teach dog safety and how to approach (or avoid) a dog they don’t know.

The officers said that the course is verbal about 50 percent of the time, meaning they are talking back and forth with the kids and telling them what to do in certain situations. The rest of the instruction is “hands-on.”

“We like it to be intimate,” Marshall said. “The kids are constantly participating and there’s always a Q and A with each lesson.”

One of the hands-on demonstrations the officers do is a vehicle safety demonstration, aimed at teaching children how to make sure they’re being respectful of the person driver, like their parents. During the role-playing, two kids pretend to be the mom and dad driving the car, while the officers are in the back seat pretending to be distracting kids.

There were plenty of laughs as the officers tried to be as distracting as they could, but the kids were able to see what they should and shouldn’t do as passengers, and made sure to give their own critiques/suggestions after the demonstration.

“The kids can be silly,” Marano said. “But you put them in a situation and they get serious – it’s amazing to watch.”

One of the more serious lessons they have to teach is how to deal with bullying and social media. Elementary school students are just getting exposed to social media and different ways to be bullied, the officers said, so they want to be proactive with teaching them how to deal with these issues.

“We don’t go over the age of 12 with this program,” Marshall said. “We want to teach the younger kids before they get to junior high.”

The children have fun with the classes, but are totally engaged throughout and pay close attention to everything being taught.

The only fee involved with the class is a $15 donation made to the Warwick Explorer’s program. The department provides materials for the demonstration, such as the “redman” suit used to portray an intruder/dangerous person.

“RAD Kids is effective because it provides so much useful information like how to defend themselves and not give in to peer pressure,” Rossi added in a release. “It makes them feel self-assured and empowered to act if they need to.