We bonded over being afraid: 3 Olentangy grads push for mandatory HS self-defense classes

Vaidehi Patel and Abby Purdy often felt a little on edge walking to their cars after their evening shifts at Polaris Fashion Place in Columbus.

The young women, who recently graduated from Olentangy High School, walked with coworkers and talked about how they would all "feel so much more confident if we knew self-defense or had self-defense training," Patel said. 

"We bonded over being afraid," Purdy added.

And that sparked an idea.

Patel, Purdy and fellow classmate Sydney Shultz needed a group project for their marketing class's Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) program. They decided to focus on "personal safety and assault prevention" by offering an after-hours self-defense class for their high school. They called it The Empowerment Project.

The one-time training was so popular they held another one. Then, the trio convinced the Olentangy School District to add self-defense to all its high school health requirements. 

Now, Patel, Purdy and Shultz are lobbying Ohio's lawmakers to make self-defense part of the statewide graduation requirements for all students. 

House Bill 639, known as the Student Protection Act, would require incoming freshmen in Ohio's public and private schools to take self-defense training starting in the 2023-2024 academic year. School resource officers or certified self-defense instructors would teach the classes, and instruction would include how to "remove yourself safely" as well as what to do after something violent occurs.

"I think that self-defense gives anyone who has taken it confidence in themselves," Shultz said. 

The women emailed all 132 state lawmakers and met with about 20, but it was two Republican representatives, Tom Young, of Washington Twp, and Andrea White, of Kettering, who agreed to carry the legislation. The bill was introduced in May. 

Young told the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau that he was impressed with Patel, Purdy and Shultz from the start. 

Sitting across the table from a state lawmaker and making your case isn't easy, even for seasoned lobbyists, he said. But the women came prepared. 

They surveyed their high school and found that 50% of female students had worried about kidnapping, sexual assault or rape. And one-third of female students thought self-defense lessons would make them feel safer. 

Nationally, Gallup polling has consistently found that about one-third of all American women "frequently" or "occasionally" worry about being sexually assaulted. But that percentage increases for younger age groups.

Young reviewed the statistics and "ran it also by my daughter and her friends. She’s 21. They really liked it and gave me their opinions on it."

A few weeks later, HB 639 was being drafted. 

"It makes me emotional," Purdy said. "Both political parties, everyone we met was on board with our idea." 

Ohio's state lawmakers are on break until at least September and with the November election looming, only a handful of days are dedicated to passing legislation. That's a tight timeline, but Young thought it was possible for HB 693 to pass before the end of the year even though it hasn't had a hearing yet.

And if they run out of time, Young will consider re-introducing the bill in January 2023.

"It’s kind of mind-boggling," Patel said. "I guess our goal was to reach this point, but we never expected it would become reality. We’re three high school students. I didn’t expect so many people to be so interested in our topic."