Protect Your Children Now
Before Its Too Late
Probably one of the biggest fears of any parent is finding
out they have a missing child. And what's even worse is not
knowing where their missing child is. Are they safe, have
they been kidnapped? As a parent myself and a police
officer, I wanted to put together a page to make some
suggestions on how to help prevent such a tragedy and help
keep your child safe.
First of all, its extremely important to realize that there
are bad people out there. Very bad. As far as I'm concerned,
they're not human and they're not curable (which research
shows is true for most pedophiles). But for this article on
missing children, we're simply going to talk about the act
of
abduction; someone taking your child. Before I go
further, the reason I stress that its important to realize there are
bad people out there, is that people that
don't work in a police capacity obviously don't see what police officers
see regularly. And because of that, its difficult for non-police
to believe there are really that many bad people out there, or even
worse, that anyone "could do such a thing." Believe me, there are
people out there that will do things you could never imagine and not
feel an ounce of guilt. I'm not saying don't trust anyone.
What I am saying is realize how dark this area is and to do everything
in your power to avoid it.
According to the FBI's National Crime Information
Center, missing children accounted for more then 840,000 in 2001 in the
United States alone. That's significant, and it should be sending us a
clear message that we have to take better precautions. But how do we
take precautions with so much going on most people's lives everyday?
Well below is a list of things that can save your child's life.
Protect Your Children Now Before Its Too Late
1. Secret Password. This is truly one of the easiest steps that a parent
can do, yet a lot of parents don't. You and your child should have a
"secret" password that only you and them know. Since a lot of abductions
occur when the child is told something like "Your Mom wanted me to pick
you up," or "Your Dad is in the Hospital and you can to come with me,"
for example. Your child should demand that the person be able to tell
them the password. If the stranger doesn't know the password, or even a
friend for that matter, the child should be instructed to run away while
screaming as well.
2. Know where your children are at ALL TIMES. Its should be completely
unacceptable in today's society for your child to somewhere without you
being informed. Maybe I'm just overprotective, but a simple phone call
is only going to take about 20 seconds.
3. Parents should teach their children their phone numbers (at an early
age), cell and work, along with your address. They should also know
their last names as well.
4. At an early age, they should know how to dial 911. Very simple, but
again, some kids don't know how to do it.
5. Children should be taught not to take candy or toys from strangers,
or to take rides with strangers. This is probably one of the easiest
methods an abductor will take, as most kids have a hard time turning
down candy or toys. Not accepting rides is very important as well, as a
fancy car could easily attract a child getting older. Teach your child
that its ok to say "No."
6. Your child should be taught to walk in groups, and not alone.
Practically all abductions occur when the child is alone and in an
isolated area.
7. Have a plan worked out in case you're ever separated in public. For
instance, agreeing to meet back at a certain location of a mall for
instance.
8. Talk to your children, and listen to what they have to say. Ask them
if they met anyone new to get information.
9. Teach your children
not to open the door anytime someone knocks on it or
rings the doorbell. I've noticed my son will run to the door to
open it even though he doesn't know who's there. You can obviously
see the dangers here.
Some of these suggestions are very basic to missing children
precautions, but as a parent myself, I can't stress them enough.
As a police officer, I encourage it even more. Don't let these
thugs run the show and put your children into the National Center For
Missing and Exploited Children.
More
Resources:
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