The Hewitt Student Service Board and Upper School Head, Ms. Stevens are working on an initiative to implement optional self defense classes for Upper School students.
“They’re essential skills, particularly for women, to take care of themselves,” said Ms. Stevens.
The goal is to have self defense sessions take place during seminar for all the high school grades beginning with the 2016-2017 school year.
“Everybody should get to do self defense classes at some point,” said Saira Khan ’17. “I know that other schools have done it, like Chapin, so it would be cool if Hewitt did it too.”
Sophomore Danielle Springer agrees: “We could be put in a vulnerable situation, so knowing techniques to defend us would be really useful.”
Last year, the Class of 2016 took a self defense class led by an instructor from the organization Female Awareness.
“We learned really useful things, and she taught us how to handle a street attack,” reports Maddie Mark ’16 of the classes her grade took last year.
Street harassment is a major issue in New York City. Wandering eyes and catcalls are amongst the daily objectifications women face on the street. Harassment is not limited to only grown women; girls in their adolescence also endure it. Out of the seven sophomores asked, seven reported that they have been catcalled before.
“It’s vile, disgusting, rude, and degrading,” said Vanessa Hay ’18.
With street harassment comes the looming threat of further sexual harassment. Women cannot help but be afraid that a physical assault will follow up the verbal assault. It’s an uncomfortable position to be in. Many students report hurrying off to wherever they were headed to and pretend not to notice the comments. Some choose to confront the catcaller.
According to a Forbes Magazine article from 2014, 65% of of women in the United States have experienced street harassment. Last year, the anti street harassment organization Hollaback recorded the catcalls a lone woman received while walking around New York City for ten hours. The video went viral, and raised awareness to the verbal violations women endure while simply walking down the street.
Students feel that learning defense strategies would help make everyone feel safer, and the initiative is supported in the Upper School, but some students will not wait until the next school year to take such classes to protect themselves.
“I take kickboxing for self defense,” Chloe Stern ’18 confessed. “I’ve never had to use it, but when I walk on the street at night, it comforts me knowing that there’s something I could do to prevent an attack.”