The Fun-Jitsu program is designed to provide your child with the full spectrum of skills and strategies to cope with and defeat physical and/or emotional bullying.  But, unlike many martial arts schools, we don’t teach kids that fighting or physically retaliating solves or prevents bullying (and will often only lead to your child getting into trouble with the school).  Indeed, while we’ll teach your child all the self-defense skills he or she needs to fully defend themselves if physically attacked by a bully, a cornerstone of our philosophy is that fighting should be avoided if at all possible.

Parents often underestimate the frequency and effects of bullying at school.  According to the latest statistics, about one in seven students in grades K-12 is either a bully or has been a victim of bullying.

• Over half, about 56 percent, of all students have witnesses a bullying crime take place while at school.
• A reported 15 percent of all students who don’t show up for school report it to being out of fear of being bullied while at school.
• There are about 71 percent of students that report bullying as an on-going problem.
• Along that same vein, about one out of every 10 students drops out or changes schools because of repeated bullying.
• One out of every 20 students has seen a student with a gun at school.
• Some of the top years for bullying include 4th through 8th graders in which 90 percent were reported as victims of some kind of bullying.
• Other recent bullying statistics reveal that 54 percent of students reported that witnessing physical abuse at home can lead to violence in school.
• Among students of all ages, homicide perpetrators were found to be twice as likely as homicide victims to have been bullied previously by their peers.
• There are about 282,000 students that are reportedly attacked in high schools throughout the nation each month.

Source:  www.bullystatistics.org.

Although these statistics are sad and shocking, the good news is that research has shown that enrolling your child in a martial arts program will substantially reduce the likelihood that your child will be bullied, become a bully, or passively tolerate bullying that they witness.  Source:  mastermoody.com

Come join us and we’ll help you instill, foster and reinforce a self-confidence in your child that will not only deter bullies in the first place, but also equip your son or daughter with all the skills needed to protect themselves from bullying.