Guest Author - Robin Rounds Whittemore

Newspaper carriers, Girl Scouts with their cookie sales, kids who participate in fundraisers, and trick or treaters can sometimes be handed right to an abductors door. An adult should accompany children at all times when participating in these activities.

Look online to see where the sexual predators are around you. If you do not know the link to the site you need, just search for sexual predators and the name of your town, and that should get you to the website that you need. Make sure your children know where they are and to never go near that house.

How do people get the children to them when they have intent to harm? There are almost as many different approaches to get to children, as there are children out there. This is an attempt to cover just some, not all, of the ways abductors have to lure children to them.

Online – Many predators approach children online, posing as a new friend or email buddy. Children can innocently give away information to a possible abductor without realizing it. Parents need to know what their children are doing on the computer. Take a class in computer safety if you need to. Look at community colleges, community centers, libraries, and even some computer stores to see if they offer the class.

Animals – Some people try to lure children away by asking them to help find a lost pet. Children need to know that sometimes people do this with the intent of harming the children. They need to tell the person to have someone else find their pet. Still others have a pet or two that they are trying to “give away”. As the child becomes involved with petting and playing with the animal, they are there for the taking. Advise your children to come and get you to look at any possible new pet.

Modeling/Acting – If someone has a camera and starts taking pictures, telling your child they would be good at acting or modeling, it may be legitimate, or it may not. They need to be checked out and if there is a real modeling or acting session, a parent should accompany the children.

Bus stops – Is there a way to make sure your child gets to and from school safely, with an adult in accompaniment? As children gather, there are witnesses in case anything happens, but people have been brazen enough to take kids from bus stops, even with other children around.

Emergencies – Instruct your child that if a stranger approaches stating that there has been an accident or fire, do not go anywhere with them. Even if the stranger says that their mom or dad has been hurt, do not believe them. They need to go to an adult they know, or go home and check out the story.

Names – Do not put your children’s names on clothing, etc. If you need to label something, do it with a symbol or code word that doesn’t reveal first or even last names. Advise your child that even if a stranger seems to know their name, do not go anywhere with them.

Attention attractors – Do not let your children wear clothing that has words or names on the derriere. That calls attention to the wrong place on your child.

Phone – Any child that is home alone should never give out information that reveals that they are alone. They can always say that Mommy or Daddy is in the shower and can’t talk right now.