Public Safety has instituted its first self-defense class for men, in response to several requests, according to Public Safety Sgt. Dale Booth.
Resisting Aggression with Defense (for men) came in response to e-mails to Booth, who is the RAD program's former director, he said.
The class, however, is different from its female counterpart, in which RAD stands for Rape Aggression Defense, Booth said. The men's RAD class focuses on teaching men how to handle confrontation with a level head, rather than focusing on sexual assault, Booth said.
"Men are trained our entire lives about what being a man is, and young men are not always trained the right way," he said. "It's about recognizing what aggressive situations are, and trying to avoid them."
How the media portrays men leads them to think they should behave a certain way. The RAD for men classes seek to teach its students that they can avoid a physical altercation without sacrificing their masculinity, Booth said.
Lt. Rima Sifri, Public Safety's crime prevention coordinator, said these classes could help to better inform men, because each class tends to focus on education.
"We want to target the men because there's not a lot of awareness and there might be a need for it," she said.
AU has two of the three RAD for men instructors in the D.C. metropolitan area and is the only university to have any instructors, according to Booth.
The basis for the course is recognizing a confrontational situation and avoiding it if possible, Sifri said.
"The big thing for RAD for men is 'I'm sorry, there's been a misunderstanding. I'm leaving now,'" Booth said. "That's the phrase that we teach them. It's 'I'm leaving now.'"
The class also contains a tactical defense lesson, in the event that a man is unable to avoid conflict, Booth said.
Some male AU students said they would not really be interested in participating in these kinds of classes.
Brandon Carrier, a senior in the School of International Service, said he has been trained in Muay Thai and Jujitso and would have no use for these classes as a result.
"If you get into a fight or are in a situation where a fight might start, it's very easy to get out, you just turn around and walk away," Carrier said.
Men who are inclined to fight would most likely not attend a RAD class, according to Zach Bushey, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs.
"The guys who go to those classes wouldn't be in fights anyway," he said. "I would go to one of those, but I wouldn't get into a fight either."
Bushey said he did not think that having different lessons for men and women was sexist.
"It has to be that way, biologically," Bushey said.
There are currently five students enrolled in the class, according to Sifri. The classes will take place Jan. 26 and 29, and Feb. 2 and 5 from 5 to 8 p.m. in the School of International Service Lounge. Attendees must go to all four sections, according to Sifri.
You can reach this staff writer at jcalantone@theeagleonline.com.
