Kehoe’s Bill to Permit Self Defense Training for Teenagers is Signed by Governor

The San Diego governor has recently signed into law Senator Christine Kehoe’s bill to permit middle and high school students in California to receive self defense training. Her bill comes in response to the abduction and death of teenagers Amber Dubois and Chelsea King.

According to Christine Kehoe, even though girls and women have made tremendous progress over the past 30 years, they are still targets of sexual assaults. Because of this, they should always be ready to defend themselves, which is how this new law will come into play as it provides the necessary training for women to fight off an attacker.

The law, SB 1290, permits schools to deliver self defense training as part of the students traditional physical education syllabus for all students that are in grades 7-12. Before the training was only allowed for students in grades 10-12. However, the new legislation is not a mandate for schools, and it doesn’t advise how the course should be taught to its students.

Last December, a young female who was trained in self defense managed to fight off John Gardner, the man behind the killing of Dubois and King. The scene of this thwarted incident would be in the same area that would later see King murdered.

It is extremely important for women and girls to have some form of protection under their belts, and the ideal place for many young females to learn how to protect themselves is often at school.

Now that the bill has been signed in San Diego, students will be able to receive free training, in addition to vital support to maximize their skills and confidence at knowing exactly what to do should they become confronted with a potential attacker.

Furthermore, with the new bill recently signed in San Diego, it is hoped that more schools across the United States will follow suit, which will eventually see more students presented with the opportunity to learn self defense skills as part of the physical education.

With more students acquiring the knowledge to their defense there will be less attacks happening on young defenseless girls who are often considered easy targets among predators.