Kidnapped: Are Your Kids Safe?

There are few thing's worse than discovering your child has been abducted. To not know what has happened to your child or where they might be is devastating. Hopefully now you will have some additional tools to keep your child safe.

When keeping your child safe there are some pretty common sense thing's, but sometimes we fall prey to our "safe" surroundings. That is not to blame anyone for any abduction, but we can come to a place where we feel safe. Maybe we've lived in our neighborhood a long time, we know our neighbors, we picnic with them and watch their pets when they vacation or vice-versa... We, unfortunately, must always be on our guard-predators love safe-secure neighborhoods as much as we do.

According to an article from Dr. Phil:

1. Talk about safety with your child without making them paranoid. Teach them about the Do's and Don'ts

-Don't ever get in a car with a stranger, even if they say they have been sent by you to pick them up in lieu of a family emergency - Never let someone swear you to secrecy (someone telling you not to tell your parents, is most likely up to no good) And don't ever go to another location with a stranger
-Do stay with friends And always let parents know where you are

   1. Set up a Safe Environment

• Never leave them alone (especially when they are little), have a routine in place for walking to school or friends houses, make sure that they know their phone number and address, they should not wear clothing displaying their name, set up a code word in the event that someone they don't know does have to pick them up and appoint safe houses in the neighborhood when and if they don't feel safe going home alone.

   2. Listen and Look

• Listen to them and know what is going on in their world (knowing when new people come into their life), be aware of your surroundings and suspicious people, most abductions are not random-even if it is a stranger they may have been watching your child for a while and monitor your child's computer activity.

   3. Have a Plan

• Have current pictures, get your child finger printed and because the first few hours of an abduction are so important have important numbers easily ready to use-including 911 and the number for the Center for Missing and Exploited Children (800) 843-5678

   4. Teach Your Children Self Defense

• Teach them to be aware of their surroundings and to be able to identify danger. A potential threatening person isn't always wearing a trench coat or looks creepy, they are typically normal looking people, teach your child that adults don't ask children they don't know to do thing's for them, or to go with them. Your child should always use the buddy system and avoid being alone. And they must know that it is okay to tell an adult they don't know, NO.