The female students at Haywood High were privileged to have Officer Danelda Arview with the Brownsville Police Department speak on Personal Safety recently. Each grade had their own session with her, and she tailored her message to fit each class.

Coordinated School Health partnered with Officer Arview to bring her very appropriate information to the students about how to get out of threatening situations, how to avoid getting into them, and the best way to handle themselves if one couldn’t be avoided. The main points students took away were:

1. Remain calm … don’t react; that’s what the threatening person is hoping for.
2. Make firm eye contact and be confident in telling the person that you don’t like what they are doing.
3. Use closed-ending statements like, “I am not comfortable with you doing that and I want you to stop now.”
4. Walk away whenever possible.
5. Remember that your personal safety is number one: if the threat comes during school, tell a teacher, guidance counselor, the SRO, the principals, or other adults who can assist.
6. Look out for each other: if you see something inappropriate happening to someone else, stand up for them. Say something or go get help.

Following that, students were given handouts of self-defense techniques with descriptions of how to act or react should the need for physical defense arise. The students were very receptive to the information Officer Arview shared with them. and many had questions at the end of the sessions. “We are very fortunate to have such great law enforcement officers who give their all to serve and protect all citizens in Brownsville and Haywood County,” School Health Coordinator Cindy Smith said.