Talking Points: should basic self-defence lessons be included in the PE curriculum?

Introducing self-defence lessons to our physical education curriculum is good for us and society as a whole.

You only need to look at the recent news, for example, the story about the death of a five-year-old girl who suffered physical abuse, to see why it’s important to learn self-defence. Knowing how to protect yourself is super-important. Then you can get away from bullies, criminals, or from someone who just wants to hurt you.

It also helps students to react to a dangerous situation quickly – someone who doesn’t know anything about self-defence might freeze and not do anything at all. Knowing how to defend yourself is a great confidence booster, because you feel less vulnerable. You’re also more likely to help someone who really needs protection.

Learning self-defence is very important, especially for girls. That’s because they are more vulnerable to assault. However, it would be great if all students had the skills to protect themselves.

Learning something like kung fu is good for us, because it will keep us physically active and strong. We mostly play basketball and volleyball during PE lessons now. This can be useful for those who want to become professional players. But knowing how to play these sports won’t help other students. However, everyone would benefit greatly from self-defence lessons in their day-to-day lives.

For sure. Imagine how great your Student Learning Profile would look if you can list self-defence as a skill. While you could impress others with your moves, it’s not just about showing off. For example, if someone tries to kidnap you, then you could fight off the attackers.

It’s not that hard to learn basic self-defence methods. It just takes practice. You wouldn’t need perfect skills – just make sure that they can be useful in a sticky situation. A punch in the face is still going to hurt, no matter how fancy you make it look.

Definitely. I have lots of classmates who have taken self-defence lessons, and they’re now really good at it. I think it can make us stronger, too, because it involves a lot of healthy exercise, and helps to reduce stress and anxiety. This makes studying so much easier, so what’s not to like?

Also, as a pretty weak person, I would love to take self-defence lessons, because then I would be better equipped to protect myself if I was ever in a dangerous situation.

In our next Talking Points, we’ll discuss: 

We are now accepting your answers for this topic. To take part, email your answer with your name, age, and school, along with a nice, clear selfie (make sure it’s not blurry), to [email protected] by lunchtime on Monday. Don’t forget to include “Talking Points” in the subject line.