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How Your Child Can Avoid Abduction (Part 1/3)Ronald Porep, Republished from SafetyIssues Issue 2 |
Volume 4 Issue 42May 2005 |
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While you want your children to be cooperative and polite to others, they need to protect themselves at home and away. Here are some rules your child should follow. Amie Marie Pond, 12, never made it to Gardiner Elementary School in Oregon City , Oregon on January 9th, 2002. Amie was still dressing for school when her sister left for school at 7:30 a.m. Amie, last seen wearing blue jeans, white sketchers and a blue bikini top, never got on the bus according to her friends in the seventh grade even though the girl left her apartment at 8 a.m.. |
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After the child was reported missing, authorities started a massive search that included dogs and helicopters but found no clues to where the child went. As the search continued, authorities changed their minds from believing that Amie had left home voluntarily to having been abducted. Despite news stories including an informational page on the America’s Most Wanted Web site, pleas for her return by her distraught parents and a continuing search by family and friends, Amie remains one of the 35,000 children and teenagers who have vanished annually without a trace from their homes, neighborhoods and even schools – tragedy you can help your family avoid. To help you keep your children safe, Safety Issues is publishing a multi part series about child abduction and how parents can help their children avoid becoming another statistic in this international nightmare. The first part will tell children how to avoid being grabbed by an abductor – usually a stranger but one the children may be familiar with – tell teens how to avoid the tragedy of kidnap and the usually resultant abuse and teach parents how to make their children and teens almost abduction proof and what to do if the worst happens. |
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At Home When at home, children should never tell anyone on the phone that they are alone. Instead, they should tell the person calling that their parents are busy and the child will take a message asking the parents to return the call as soon as they can. Many would-be abductors call a child’s home to see if the child’s parents are away and then try to gain entrance when they know only the child or children are home. If someone shows up at the door who the child does not know well, the best thing a child can do is not answer the door at all. A would-be abductor does not wish to attract attention to him by hanging around a house ringing the door bell as neighbors may notice him and call police mistaking the person for a burglar casing the house. |
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Who Should Children Trust? Here we need to define the difference between friends and strangers for children. The term stranger suggests a concept that children do not understand and is one that ignores what we do know about the people who commit crimes against children. It misleads children into believing that they should be wary only of individuals who have an unusual or slovenly appearance. Unfortunately, however, many children are abducted or exploited by people who have some type of familiarity with the children but who may or may not be known to the parents. For example, children see the man who sells ice cream from a cart or truck in the neighborhood as a friend but adults would see this person as a possibly dangerous stranger. So, parents should define which adults a child can trust and which ones they cannot. For example, children should be suspicious of any adult asking for assistance. Children should help other children, but there is no need for them to be assisting adults. Also, children should be wary of adults trying to befriend them. Often exploiters or abductors initiate a seemingly innocent contact with the victim. They may try to get to know a child using subtle approaches that both parents and children should be aware of. And, children should learn to stay away from individuals in cars or vans. Children should not enter a car without parental approval and should move away from a car driven by a stranger that approaches them – turning and running in the opposite direction of the car. A clear, calm and reasonable message about situations and actions to look out for is easier for a child to understand than a particular profile or image of a stranger Away From Home If a child is away from home, they should not enter a house without anyone else knowing where they are. A kidnapper may offer a child some treats or a drink in his home. Children should not take such things without asking their parents first and should not enter a house of someone they do not know well (stranger) without parental approval. And, children should not play in abandoned, deserted or under construction buildings or in isolated areas – a favorite place of the child abductor. If someone tries to grab the child, the child should make as much of a scene as she or he can – screaming and scattering belongings and books all over. The last thing a child abductor wants is witnesses so he will leave a child who causes such a scene and attracts a lot of attention. In the mall, if a child is separated from parents, he or she should seek help from a store clerk or other store personnel – asking the employee to page you. IF you have a cell phone, the child should know your number and ask the mall or store employee to call you. Children Should Say NO Most of all though, children should be taught they can say NO to adults. Child abductors count on children being obedient but children should know they can refuse the demands of a stranger, or even a friend, telling them to do something they do not feel comfortable doing. For example, children should not be asked to keep special secrets from their parents and, of course, children should not be asked to touch anyone in the bathing suit areas of their body or allow anyone to touch them in those areas. If anyone demands that a child do something the child feels uncomfortable with or a parent has told them not to, the child needs to know he or she can say NO to the adult. NO is the best defense a child can have against someone who would hurt him or her. |
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Part2/3: How Parents Can Help Children Avoid Abduction Back to Safety Issues... |
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