Keeping your children safe from crime
The purpose of this article is to address some of the key points
parents need to know in order to keep their children safe.
Know who can help you: When I was an officer I participated in
something called "Safety Town". What they did was educated very
young children (ages 4 to 5) on safety matters. My role was to
visit the children while in uniform; then, the instructor and
myself would educate the children on how to identify a police
officer. We would point out things on my uniform like my badge,
radio, big belt with all sorts of stuff and the color of my
uniform. The purpose was to get the children to understand what
a police officer looks like and more importantly to let them
know that we are there to help them if they need help.
Often times when I was on duty and having lunch in a restaurant,
I would have some parent who was having a problem with their
young child, say something like "If you don't sit up straight I
will go tell that police officer to arrest you". Or, we would
have parents bring there children into our police station and
want us to threaten to arrest their child if they do not wear
their seatbelt or for some other discipline problem the parent
was having that day. Not only is this the wrong thing to do, but
it is a very counter productive thing to do. What these parents
are indirectly telling their children is, that the police are
the boogey man and someone to be fearful of. The major problem
with this is obvious; if something happens, the child will be
afraid to seek out a police officer for help.
What is a stranger: It is common for parents to tell their
children the danger of going with strangers. The problem is what
is a stranger. What adults view as a stranger is different then
what a child may view as a stranger. Instead of addressing what
a stranger is, you need to address things a stranger may do and
address dangerous situations your child may have to deal with.
This makes it much easier for your child to understand. Below is
a list of common issues your child should be made aware of.
What if an adult wants you to do something you don't want to do?
First, every child should know that he or she has a right to say
"No!". We have a tendency to tell children to obey adults. This
makes them vulnerable to every adult. There are only certain
adults they should obey. And you should tell them who they are.
Teach your child to protect their personal space from unwanted
intrusion.
What if an adult asks you to keep a secret from your mother or
your father? No adult should ask a child to keep a secret from
their parents. If an adult, even someone they trust like a
babysitter or a relative, ever tells them to keep a secret, they
should tell you immediately. Molesters depend on the fact that a
child will keep their secret.
Defining a stranger Children should know that a stranger is any
adult they don't know well. That doesn't mean they're bad. It
just means they haven't earned your trust yet. Even someone they
see every day, like a neighbor, is a stranger if they don't know
them well.
What if a stranger wants you to come to his car or house? If a
stranger pulls over and asks for help or wants to show you
something in his car, don't go to the car. Stand back and be
ready to run. You should explain that while it's OK for a child
to ask a grownup for help, grownups shouldn't ask children for
help. They should be asking other grownups. Abductors will use
many lures to draw children to them: * They ask for help, like
directions for finding a pet. * They seduce children with gifts,
candy, money or jobs. * They make threats. * They pretend to be
authority figures, like police and clergy. * They say its an
emergency. "Your parents are hurt. I'll take you to the
hospital." What do you do if a stranger says he's come to pick
you up? For the safety of your child, you should have a secret
code word that just the family members know. If you ever send
someone to pick up your child, give them the code word. Your
child should not go near the car unless the stranger knows the
secret word.
What do you do if you think that someone is following you? Don't
be alone. Immediately run to a friend's house or the nearest
store and tell them. What if a stranger ever threatens you or
tries to grab you? Shout "HELP" and "I don't know you" and "call
911". And get away fast. Make a big scene so people will come.
Carry and use a personal attack alarm. Most abductors and
molesters will run away if their victim fights and attracts
attention with noise.
What if you're home alone and someone calls for your mother or
father? A child should never tell anyone they're home alone.
Just tell them "My parents can't come to the phone right now.
I'll take a message." And never open the door to any stranger.
What if you get separated while you are shopping or in another
public place? Whenever you go shopping, set up a meeting place.
If you get separated, don't search for each other. Immediately
go to the meeting place. Or ask a police officer, guard, or
employee for assistance.
Encourage children to walk and play together, to watch out for
each other. Young children should not be out alone, especially
in the evening.
Explain that if they're ever lost or abducted that you will look
for them until you find them. No matter what. This is critical.
Most abducted children are told by the abductors that their
parents don't want them anymore. If they believe it, they have
no place else to go.
Know the basics: Another thing that we did at "Safety Town" was
to make sure the children memorized the following: * Their first
and last name * Their age * Their street address * Their full
telephone number with area code * Their parent's first and last
name(s) This information is very important and not very hard for
even a young child to remember as long as someone helps them. It
would be a good idea to make it a daily practice of having your
child repeat the above listed information to you on a daily
basis, that way they should get it memorized pretty quickly.
There are more dangers then just strangers: Another thing that
was addressed in "Safety Town" was letting the children
understand what dangerous things they might find and what to do.
Items such as guns, knives, syringe needles etc..., which they
may unfortunately find in parks or even school playgrounds.
To give an example: I was dispatched to a residence where
someone had overdosed on heroin. The other people that were with
him got scared they would get into trouble and pulled the
syringe out of his arm and threw it outside where it landed in a
snowbank. We had to pull teeth to get the information out of
them on what they did with the syringe. Finally, we were able to
locate and recover the syringe. The snow bank where the syringe
was found was located in a elementary school yard that happened
to be adjacent to the apartment complex where the heroin user
was found. The area where the snow bank was located was right
next to a path that the kids took to go to school. Now for those
of you who think this only happens in the big cities. That
simply is not true, I worked for a small city which is
considered a nice suburban community and for all intensive
purposes it is. Just because you may not live in the big city
does not mean you or your child are totally safe from crime.
Yes; you are living in a safer area overall but do not ever
think you are totally imune to criminal activity.
This example shows how important it is that children are able to
recognize these things and contact an adult about them if found,
but not to touch the items themselves. A good way to get
children to identify with what these objects look like, is to
find photographs of these objects and explain to the child what
they are and to stay away. Protecting your children from crime
is done by educating them about crime. The more they know, the
better off they will be, it is not different for you. If you
would like to read more of my articles on crime prevention, or
get more information about my book go to
www.crimeawareness101.com