It seems that students haven't really stopped getting into fights at school. But what is more prevalent is getting someone in the hall or playground. Nothing done as a fight or a pick-on, just surprising someone with a punch or jab, ostensibly playfully.

The kids with fight training seem to fare better as they can react quickly and return the favour. When the student who started it is on the receiving end of a quick and effective response, that is usually the end of it. It seems to be kids testing each other.

These days it is important that kids have defensive/offensive fight training. For instance, my son was waiting for a bus at a bus stop after school and a guy tried to physically move him down the street to what, we don't know. However my son dropped him, got on the bus just coming around the corner and that was that. We have always said the the objective in a fight is to end it as quickly as possible, and that is what he does. His self-defense training gives him a lot of confidence. So the 6 years of karate pays off each day - just in self-assured awareness.

It is not so much the school kids who are trouble anymore, it is the predator driving or walking past looking to grab an unsuspecting kid like the one example above. It could be on a school day or weekend. Ordinary normal kids need new skills today - urban survival skills. Some kids who live a high-risk lifestyle already have the skills, but most kids do not.

As parents we think that the world environment is better and we are more kind and more thoughtful and our kids are too. Perhaps. But school age gangs try to recruit kids, perhaps your kid, with the lure of money or drugs, or perhaps by intimidation, and the road to a vicious and deliberately uncaring way of life and thought gets underway. Girls specifically are at risk as casual sex gives way to sex for goods and then blackmailed into much more than that.

There are many traps for kids these days which were not there two generations ago. Two generations ago kids were innocent. Not anymore. Not since the internet.

I believe we need to give our kids the tools to survive in the world of today and tomorrow. Now, that means online and gadget (iPod, etc.) safety and physical safety. So we educate the mind and educate the body.

These are tough times for parents. Most kids don't understand the dangers yet.

What sets a kid up as a victim? Another blog is coming for that diatribe.

On a positive note, most parents are much more aware and keep a watchful eye on their kids and their friends.

I do hope that parents and kids have a great summer together.

Cheers - Mike