Our high school classes will be starting up in a few weeks, and I have to admit, I’m nervous about going back! Every August, I start getting anxious about school starting. My whole life I’ve dreaded the end of summer and the start of school. My sister, Rosanne, is even banned from asking me when I go back until mid-August! Of course, once I get started, I love it! I have the best job in the world – teaching teens to stand up and speak up for themselves, giving them the tools to defend their lives and their boundaries. And they LOVE it, their parents love it, and the schools love it.
Throughout the pandemic, we have been teaching classes online and at first, we were concerned that the material would not translate as well. For sure the physical experience was not the same – and we will offer workshops with the padded instructors for those who were taught online – but the rest of the material translated well. We had many discussions about setting and accepting boundaries and learned and practiced verbal strategies for both strangers and people we know. We learned and practiced consent and bystander intervention. We practiced all of this through the magic of Zoom with the instructors playing the role of the assailant virtually. It worked better than we expected! And we got some fun stories and interesting comments from parents about it.
Online Zoom class: A student was practicing verbal strategies with Gus, a.k.a. Don Hart, when her father came bursting into her bedroom:
Student: Stop right there!
Gus: Don’t tell me what to do…
Student: I said STOP!
Dad: What the hell is going on here?!?!
Student: Daaaaad, I’m in class!
Gus: (Continues his verbal assault…)
Student: (to Gus) STOP!
Dad: Oh, I like this!
Student: Dad, please!!
Dad: (Gestures zipping his lips closed and stands by, wide-eyed, watching…)
In real life: A student was standing in line outside a store:
Student: (to the person behind her) Excuse me, could you please step back to the line, you’re not six feet away.
Stranger: Don’t speak to me like that, you little shit.
Student: I am politely asking you to observe the six feet policy.
Stranger: You’re being brainwashed, you’re not going to catch it from me.
Student: Yeah, well, my mother is a nurse, so I could be exposed to it every time she comes home from work. But if you’re okay with it, so am I.
Stranger: (Silently steps back to appropriate distance.)
(Her mother is not a nurse.)
As you might have imagined, we had more than the usual amount of students setting boundaries with family members and friends, so parents got to see more of the class in action. One student said their sibling would come into their room during the class and participate off to the side.
In a division meeting early in the semester, during the check-in, I said that I was concerned about the efficacy of the class online. The middle school Dean said that he had been getting many comments about the class from parents and they are very happy their kids are required to take the class. So, I relaxed and let my team do what we do best – teach badass personal safety skills to anyone interested.
You don’t have to go to one of our schools to learn IMPACT, you can sign up for one of our public classes, or even put together a group of friends and take a private class! And if you do not live in the Los Angeles area, don’t worry! We will still offer monthly online classes!
