PROTECT YOUR CHILD FROM PREDATORS

Parents – April 2006

Make sure your kids are safe from dangerous people in your neighborhood, at the mall and on the internet.

The New Stranger Danger The safety rules your parents taught you might not be the best strategies for protecting your own children.

1. Your parents warned you to always stay away from “strangers.”

The update: Kids do not always define “stranger” the way adults do. Your child may think a a police office is a stranger because she’s never met him, and she may think a neighbor is familiar since she sees him every day, even though she has never spoken to him. Also, children are most often harmed by people they already know.

The solution: Discuss what your child should do if she is lost and talk about which adults she can approach if she needs help (ex. a police officer in uniform, a salesperson with a name tag, a person in an information booth, or a mother with children.)

2. Your parents used a code word that a friend or neighbor could say to let you know it was safe to leave with her if your parents could not pick you up from school.

The update: Young children are often too quick to tell their secrets to people they do not know, even without being asked. If you are stuck somewhere, you will probably be able to call the school yourself or get in touch with your child directly.

The solution: Let your child know that you will never send someone he does not know to pick him up. If you cannot come yourself, you will contact him or you will tell his teacher or his school principal who will come to get him.

3. Your parents put visible nametags on your clothing or belongings so they would be returned quickly if they got lost.

The update: If someone can see your child’s name written in marker on the outside of her jacket or backpack, he has a very easy way to convince her that he knows her – by calling her by her by her first name.

The solution: Label her belongings on the inside of her clothing with her initials, or decide on a unique symbol like a heart and a star or three dots inside a circle. That way you can identify what belongs to your child without displaying any personal information. COMMON WAYS PREDATORS TRY TO TRICK KIDS

 Asking for assistance: “Can you help me find my puppy?”  Using authority: “You look like the boy who broke my window. Come on, We’re going to talk to your parents.”  Offering gifts: “I’m going to buy candy. Do you want some?”  Faking an emergency: “Quick!” “Your mom was in a car accident, and I have to take you to her.”