Do not give your child any personalized clothing, lunch boxes, bags, or license plates on bicycles. If a stranger is able to call your child by name, your child may think that this person is not a stranger. (Do put tags inside your children’s coat or clothes with their full name, address and phone number with area code in case they get separated from you.)
Do not dress your child to look rich or to stand out. If the rest of the children are wearing jeans or skirts, don’t put your child in a suit or fancy dress. Some abusers look for children that appear to come from money.
There is always safety in numbers. Don’t let your child walk home alone or play outside alone. This includes in your own yard. It only takes a few seconds for someone to reach over a fence and grab a child. Strangers are tempted by children who are alone. It is easier to lure them away. Playing alone is best done inside.
There is no correct age for children to be out alone. Any child under the age of 8 should never be out alone. For children over the age of 8, teach them safe routes to follow if it is necessary for them to be alone. In my opinion, no child is old enough to walk home alone, regardless of age. Teen girls and boys have been lured away as easily as younger ones. If, after reading these facts, and reading and watching the news, and visiting the Center for Missing and Exploited Children website, you still choose to allow your child to walk home alone, please follow the rest of these guidelines. Let's not make our children easy targets anymore.
Tell your child that under NO circumstances are they to take short cuts home. This is a great place for an abduction to occur. Teach your child to stick to main, well lighted, busy streets.
Teach a child to trust their instincts. Even if they are not 100% sure that there is a problem, if they feel even slightly scared or uncomfortable they should run away in the opposite direction.
Teach a child that in any situation that feels uncomfortable, they should run away as fast as they can (run for your life) and scream loudly. Do not be embarrassed. It’s always better to be safe rather than sorry. Run toward a crowded place.
Come up with a code word with your child. It should be a word that is an absolute secret between you and your child. No one must know it. Tell a child to only go with someone who gives the correct code word, no matter what else they may tell them. Let the child come up with the word. Make sure that you change it each time that you give it to someone.
Teach your child to remember as much as they can about strangers who approach them (car, looks, etc.).
Make sure a child knows who to go to if lost or in trouble. Teach them to not just go up to anyone, but to look for someone in uniform (store clerk, mailman, policeman, bus driver, etc.)
Make sure a child memorizes their address and phone number with area code in case they are ever abducted and brought out of state. Teach them to use 911 and 0 as well.
Teach your child to say NO. We all would like our children to be perfect ladies and gentlemen, but that will not protect them. We were taught to obey and respect adults. Children have to know that it is okay to say NO. Teach them to say NO, scream, run and then tell.
Make sure that you child knows the names for their private parts and is comfortable talking about them and labeling them so that if abuse occurs they feel comfortable talking about it to you.
Do not force a child to give affection. This only teaches a child that it is okay for an adult to force affection on them. If they do not want to give Aunt Bertha a hug and kiss, then that is okay.
Learn all you can about everyone that spends time with your child. Baby-sitter, sports coach, crossing guards, etc. How do you know these people are not child molesters? Check them out by calling police, DYFS, the school and any other people who know this person. Always call referrals for babysitters, especially prior parents – find out why they are prior parents.
Teach your child about good and bad secrets.
