How to Reduce the Risk of Child Abduction

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By Lynn W
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Reduce the Risk of Child Abduction

Unfortunately, there is now way to guarantee that your child will always be safe and that nothing bad will happen to them, but there are some ways you can help reduce the risk that your child will be abducted. This page is dedicated to Lindsey Baum, a young girl from McCleary, Washington that disappeared on June 26th, 2009. Lindsey Baum is best friends with the daughter of one of my fellow writers here on eHow. I have been involved in trying to spread the word about her disappearance. Please take a moment to look at Lindsey’s page (link at the bottom) and to pass on the information.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

computer with internet

Step 1

Teach your child while they are very young about stranger danger. Be careful not to frighten your young child, but make them aware that they need to take strangers seriously. Make sure they understand what a stranger is. Many young children think strangers look bad or different, they need to understand that strangers look just like everyone else. Young children many times have the mistaken idea that if the person knows their name, then they must not be a stranger. Your child needs to understand that a stranger is ANYBODY that is not a friend of the family or a part of the family.
Step 2

Never have your child’s name and phone number on their stuff. Abductors can use this information to entice a child. Take for instance if you put your child’s name and phone number on their coat and the child leaves it at the park. The person that finds it can call your house ask if say “is this Johnny” and Johnny is not at all worried after all the person knows his name and phone number, so he must know him. If you are afraid that your child’s belongings will get lost, it may be better just to put the phone number in it. Also, never have your child’s name on their clothes or jewelry, again a stranger can use that to call the child by their name and that confuses the child into thinking the person knows them.
Step 3

Have a password that anyone picking up your child must know and change it sometimes. Talk with your child and make sure they understand this is a very serious thing and that they cannot share that password with anyone. Teach them to ask for the password if you need someone else to pick them up from school or some other activity. If you ever become nervous about an adult that you have given the password to, then make sure you change it. Make sure your child is in complete understanding that the password has changed and the old password is no longer valid and not to go with anyone who uses the old one.
Step 4

Teach your child to stay away from adults that “need help” or want to give them gifts. Adults do not need help from children, this is totally inappropriate for them to even ask. Make sure your child knows it is not being rude or selfish not to help the adult, it is ok. Your child should know to RUN as fast as they can if ANY stranger approaches them asking them a question, asking for help or trying to offer them something.
Step 5

Teach your child to report any adult that behaves in a suspicious nature towards them. Your child should come home immediately or go to a safe area if any adult approaches them asking questions of them, asking for help or offering them something. Teach them you as their parent will determine if it was a serious threat or not and they need to let you know about it so you can decide. Teach your child to get away from a situation if an adult is making them feel uncomfortable in any way and to let you know about it.
Step 6

Role play with your child. Go through the different scenarios that they could face. Help them decide what they should do in each circumstance.
Step 7

Be familiar with the sex offenders in your area. This may sound distasteful, but it’s really important to know who in your area may be a threat. Teach your children to stay away from that person and to never go near their house or where they hang out. See the resources below for a national database on convicted sex offenders.
Step 8

Check into community programs that are offered about safety. Most communities has programs set up to teach children about how to keep themselves safe. Contact your local police department, child’s school or library to find out what programs that are offered in your area.