For many people worldwide––and particularly women and girls––going outside at night or in unfamiliar places can be anxiety-inducing, dangerous, and even life-threatening. But within our Groton bubble, we are seldom prepared to confront the dangers of the real world. If we want to ensure Groton equips us with skills of situational awareness, confidence, and above all, self-protection, we must consider embracing self-defense programs like IMPACT for all forms—not just Sixth Form.
There are countless situations one could run into that could result in terrible consequences. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, “one out of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime.” With IMPACT training incorporated into the curriculum, students will be taught not only how to escape and fight when they are in harm’s way, but also to avoid dangerous situations before they can occur. Groton would be giving students the tools they need to handle life-threatening situations that they would otherwise be unprepared for.
Additionally, the IMPACT course would increase awareness among male students about the dangers of being a female-identifying person in our society today—lessons that are crucial for boys to learn at all ages. IMPACT training would remind men of the danger of being a bystander or an instigator, and to protect themselves and friends who may be targeted. Otherwise, most students are not taught such valuable life skills until later in their lives (and at Groton, in their Sixth Form year) because not everyone has access to training or teaching from parents or resources outside of school.
Although Groton already offers an IMPACT training course to Sixth Formers, it only happens twice a year over the course of a few hours. IMPACT training shouldn’t just be a six-hour workshop offered to Sixth Formers but an official course required for all graduating students. All of this vital education and training is crammed into just a few hours, making it less likely for students to retain information from these sessions and gain an awareness of the severity of its content. As Sixth Form student Sydney Synerchia ’24 said, “It was hard to appreciate and fully take in the value and importance of IMPACT training as the length of the session was too long to be mentally present the entire time.”
Because this information and training is arguably just as vital as the GSEL (Groton Social Emotional Learning) courses on mental health and healthy relationships required for Second, Third, and Fourth Form, why do we not also offer a self-defense course to everyone? Just as GSEL prepares students for the mental turmoil and anxieties they will encounter in life, IMPACT training should complement this training by preparing us for the physical dangers life might throw at us.
Most important, normalizing IMPACT training would teach students to feel comfortable voicing their questions or worries on topics such as sexual assault and physical violence because of the cooperative, community-oriented setting in which the training takes place. If Groton wants to create independent and self-sufficient students who are thoroughly prepared for life outside of the Circle then we must implement an IMPACT course into our class schedules.
