Your Child Safety Questions Answered

Monday I posted about my impending conference call with Nancy McBride, safety director for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Well, it was absolutely fabulous and so informative. She answered my questions about child safety, and she answered some of yours too! Here are some of the great things I took away from my talk with her.

Make safety a positive message. There is no reason to scare your young child or be graphic when you are talking about safety. Give your child information that is age-appropriate. Nancy said she wants to eliminate the term “stranger danger” because it scares kids, and because the sad truth is that most children who are harmed are abused or taken by someone they already know, not someone who is a stranger to them. What we need to tell our children is that no one should ever make them feel uncomfortable, touch them in a bad way, or ask them to keep a secret. Whether it is a friend of the family, relative, or Sunday School teacher or Cub Scout leader – even the parent of a friend. If anyone that they do or don’t know makes them feel uncomfortable – that’s not OK, and they need to tell YOU. For help on what is age-appropriate for your child, check out the Child Safety Handbook at the Power of Parents website.

Incorporate safety into daily life.Talk about safety when you cross the street, talk about fire safety, talk about being safe when riding a bike, and then relate that back to being safe with people. When safety is a familiar topic, talking to your kids about keeping themselves safe with adults (whether they’re strangers or not) won’t seem like such a scary thing.

YOU are your child’s “Safety Person”. We need to make it clear to our kids that they can come to us with anything, and that we will love them no matter what. We need to let our children know that they can trust us, and keep those lines of communication open, so that if and when they DO have concerns about another adult, that they will come to US instead of trying to keep it a secret. Also, they need to know that they can and should ASK Mommy or Daddy whether something’s ok or not, if they’re not sure. Let them know they aren’t allowed to go anywhere with another adult, even if it’s someone they know, unless Mommy or Daddy says it’s okay. At the same time, teach them what other adults they can ask for help if they are ever separated from you in a public place, i.e. a police officer, store clerk, or another Mommy with kids.

We need to be informed.Did you know that most abduction attempts occur after-school, between the hours of 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.? Almost half of non-family abduction attempts happen when a child is walking to or from school or a related school activity. NCMEC also found that the overwhelming majority of children affected by abduction attempts are young girls (74 percent) between the ages of 10 and 14 years old. Know where your children are and who they’re with during these hours! Make a plan to keep them safe. Make sure your older children DO know how to get away and call for help if someone tries to take them. Let them know it’s not about being POLITE to an adult, it’s about being SAFE.

Finally, be there for your children. In the days of cell phones, MySpace, and instant messaging, it is easy for someone to approach your child by pretending to be something that he or she is not. You can monitor their internet usage, you can utilize a nanny cam to keep an eye on the babysitter, but the bottom line is, nothing will keep your child safer than your attention and supervision.

Thanks to Duracell and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and Nancy McBride for the great opportunity to learn about child safety. Get started preparing for “the talk” with your kids today!! Visit the Power of Parents online and download their Child Safety Handbook today! It’s that important!