This week several college students took on the overwhelming and heart-breaking responsibility of being pallbearers for their friend’s funeral. A young girl was cruelly and dispassionately murdered by a housemate (I will forego the details as they’re simply too awful to describe) in her own house on campus.  This is not “news” in our headlines these days, however; it seems as if every few months we hear of similar incidents.  This girl was the daughter of one of our prominent judges, and two of my Krav Maga students knew the family well.  One of my close friends, years ago, lost her very own daughter in a similar fashion.  I have two girls, 28 and 25, and cannot imagine the pain.

In a previous blog (“College Prep for High School Girls”), I stated:

“Here are the facts:

1) One out of four women will be sexually assaulted on a college campus; 2) one out of eight women will be raped while in college; 3) 84% of women who were raped knew their assailant; 4) 57% of rapes occur on a date; and, 5) 75% of male students and 55% of female students involved in date rape had been drinking or using drugs.”

Now, we must add to these reprehensible statistics those many coeds in America that suffered the ultimate fate of murder!

How disgusting does this make you feel?  If so, then stop talking about it and become pro-active.  Our young girls (and men) can be taught to defend themselves, even if only for a brief moment, and “find the door”, as survival is all that truly matters.  This is not about kicking ass; just purely escaping to live another day.

In a month or so, all the fervor will die down, saving those intimately related to our lost child, and the proverbial concept of “out of sight, out of mind” will once again prevail…that is, until we tragically lose yet another; and, it will happen, I promise you.

Wake up parents; pull your imperceptive heads out of the sand and provide your daughters and sons the life-saving training that may one day prevent one of them from suffering a similar fate!