HELPS TO AVOID CHILD ABDUCTION
AN APPEALING UNTRUTH
familiar tones of the original liar
PREPARED, NOT AFRAID
To help your family and children avoid danger, the first step is to accept this world can be a dangerous place, and predators hunt easy targets. Arm your children with the information they need to avoid being targeted and how to react if approached. By giving a child the tools he needs to deal confidently with an emergency and avoid peril, he is less likely to live in fear.
FIND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Discuss with your child the how to identify a stranger. Make a game of it and review what you have learned while going about your normal routine with your child.
* Demonstrate to your child how he can choose a safe stranger to ask for help in an emergency.}
* Libraries, police stations, restaurants, stores, homes of trusted family members or friends, community centers and other locations should be discussed and shown to the child as safe places he can go for help.
* Sit a while and watch people. Discuss the differences between a person that pretends to be your friend and someone that is simply being polite. Show your child how to determine when someone is just a bit too perfect, too nice, in a creepy sort of way.
KNOWLEDGE YOUR CHILD SHOULD HAVE
These scenarios (and similar ones) should be avoided:
* A person holding a leash and asking for help finding a lost puppy.
* People asking directions.
* Drivers asking for help with mechanical difficulties.
* A person that tries to get a child to help find something in a house or car.
* Make it your custom to tell your child who and when another adult will be driving them.
* Teach children to have confidence in their instincts. Running away should be the first response of a child that feels threatened. A child that is afraid should run for help. Escaping quickly to a safe place, a child should then find a trusted adult and ASK THAT PERSON TO HELP.
* Take on the role of a stranger and pretend to ask for directions or try to get your child to help you find a lost pet.
* Show your child the safe range to remain beyond the reach of a stranger.
* Practice running away for times when a stranger gets too close or grabs another child. Tell your child the importance of running for help (and not staying to help) if another child is grabbed.
* Practice with your child the art of yelling and screaming to attract attention.
* Show your child how to claw an abductors face (eyes, ears, mouths & nose) with their fingers to get away.
MAKING YOUR CHILD LESS OF A TARGET
* Show your children how to look out for each other and stay in a group.
* Remind your child that he should never go with someone that invites them to leave the group.
* Playtime should be with a group or a safe buddy.
* Require your child to check with you before they leave home or some other approved location.
* Plan a neighborhood meeting to share these tips with other parents.
When you make these things part of your daily living, your child should not become fearful. Rather than something extra, a child can learn these things in much the same way as he learns to brush his teeth, wear a seatbelt and check for traffic at an intersection: as a means to insure his well-being.
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