Child safety service InstantAmber reminds us that this month is National Child Abuse Prevention month, calling attention to all facets of child abuse and child safety. The Galveston County Daily News put together a great list of things to make sure your child knows to prevent their abduction:
- Children should know their name, address and phone number with area code.
- Children need to know that appropriate strangers, store clerks or police officers, can offer assistance if they are lost or need help.
- Parents should continue to insist on safety measures through middle school and high school. Most victims of nonfamily abductions were 12 years or older and most were girls.
- Parents should promptly report a missing child. The Amber Plan is credited with helping recover more than 130 children in its first two years.
Talking to your children about being smart and safe could go a long way towards keeping them out of harms way!
Is your child fully prepared to know what to do should they go missing or taken? Many parents find it hard to talk about this with their children since it is such a tough subject to even think of. Indiana company KinderVision aims to help your children learn about safety for themselves should the inevitable happen to them.
KinderVision is working to provide parents and children with the tools to help keep their child from becoming the next victim. "It’s really the only solution we have in protecting our children," said Sebastian.
That was why six-year-old Jadarious and his younger brother got in front of the camera lens and were recorded onto a copy of the KinderVision D-V-D. "It’s really to get them to watching the DVD and watching it over and over again. We put them on their, they watch it, and learn the information, said co-founder, Nancy Sebastian.
The 14-minute long program teaches children what they should do if they are in a risky situation. "They should never go to a public bathroom alone. They should never go with a stranger to help him find something. Even if they offer money," said Sebastian.
If you are an educator or just want to educate yourself and your children on the hazards of child predators, KidsandStrangers.org has produced a dvd to help you and your family and friends learn about child safety. The dvd includes the following categories:
-Empowering Children: Going to School, The Playground, Home Alone, Who is a Stranger?, Early Internet Safety, Kid Escape, The “Grip, Dip & Spin” technique for breaking free from an abductor.
-Texting , Talking and Internet Predators: Actual teen experiences, 911 calls operator interviews.
-Parent Tips, Family Talk and Walk: What parents need to know and do.
With National Missing Children’s Day celebrated last week, honors were bestowed on those going the extra mile in the search for missing and exploited children, as well as honoring the memory of those who have been tragically lost. The day also marks the second year of Project Safe Childhood by the Department of Justice.
This spring marks the second anniversary of the Department’s Project Safe Childhood (PSC) initiative, which brings together federal, state, and local investigators and prosecutors to combat online child exploitation crimes. The Department implemented PSC in 2006 and has built the initiative upon integrated partnerships involving international, federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutors.
Law enforcement collaborating on such an effort is a great step towards keeping our children safe in communities across the country.