The Steven Stayner
& Missing Children's Memorial
Tips for Protecting & Teaching your Child
Protect your child
Stories of missing and kidnapped children run all too often in our newspapers, on t.v. and radio. There are many proposals on how to reduce the frequency of these occurrences. As a parent, there are concrete steps you can take to minimize the risk to your children:
- Know where your children are at all times. Be aware of your children's routes home from school and any dangerous areas on that route.
- Know their friends, and the places they visit.
- Set limits as to what time your children should be home from school, and from visiting friends.
- Educate yourself about the registered sex offenders living in your area.
Teach Your Child
Teaching your children to not go near, or speak to, strangers is the most basic step in reducing stranger abductions, but that step alone is not enough. Children are vulnerable and trusting, and sometimes forget what they're taught at crucial moments. Here are some additional tips to teach your children:
- Teach your children their full names and make sure they know a stranger cannot change their name.
- Teach your children at a young age that you would never give them away to anyone for any reason.
- Teach your children that no one has the right to touch them in an inappropriate way.
- Train your children to never go anywhere, including public restrooms or walking home, alone.
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Be Observant
If you see suspicious activities in your neighborhood (example, a person sitting in a parked vehicle for an extended period of time with no apparent reason), contact your local police. |
If someone in a vehicle drives alongside them as they walk somewhere, teach your children to run in the opposite direction, screaming to draw the attention of others. You may want to provide them with a loud whistle or alarm device, both very useful tools in times of danger.
- Teach your children self defense steps to use if someone takes them: hit, kick, and if they manage to break free, roll under a parked vehicle or run to the nearest house or store.
- Teach your children if anyone grabs them or tries to take them they should yell "Stranger" as loud as possible.
- Make sure your children memorize their home telephone number, know how to use a pay telephone, how to dial 911, and how to call home collect in an emergency.
- Develop a "key word or phrase" that only you and your children know. If someone tries to pick them up and doesn't know that phrase, your children are not to go with that person, even if it is a family acquaintance.
- Play memory games with your children to help develop "recall" skills (example, a mole, skin color, tatoo, facial features, color of car, license number).
- Practice "safety games" with your children to help them develop a second nature to fall back on and reduce their tendency to panic in a crisis.
The Importance of Having a Good Photo of Your Child
One of the most important tools for law enforcement to use in the case of a missing child is an up-to-date, good-quality photograph. Noted below are some tips for parents and guardians regarding such a photograph.
The photograph should be a recent, head-and-shoulders color photograph of the child in which the face is clearly seen. It should be of ”school-portrait” quality, and the background should be plain or solid so it does not distract from the subject.
When possible the photograph should be in a digitized form, and available on a compact disk (CD), as opposed to just a hard copy. This minimizes the time necessary to scan, resize, and make color corrects before disseminating it to law enforcement.
The photograph should be an accurate depiction of the child, not overly posed or “glamorized.” Nor should other people, animals, or objects be in the photograph. The photograph should not be taken outside, out of focus, torn, damaged, or very small.
The photograph should have space for accurate, narrative description useful to identify the child such as name, nickname, height, weight, sex, age, eye color, identifying marks, glasses, and braces.
The photograph should be updated at least every six months for children 6 years of age or younger and then once a year, or when a child's appearance changes.
All copies of child’s photograph and information should be maintained in an easily accessible, secure space by the parents or guardian. The photograph and data should not be stored in a public database.
source National Center for Missing & Exploited Children |
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