Dad’s Dozen protects children
Parents, take a moment to feel peaceful love for your children. Then check out these crucial tips to make your child safer and protect your precious offspring from the danger that lurks.
1. NOW I KNOW MY ABC If your child is old enough to learn the alphabet, teach him his phone number instead of including the 1, the area code, and the number. From the age of two, children need to know their first and last name, their first and last name, and their full address, including their city and state.
2. ROLE PLAY What if no one picks you up at school? What if someone knocks on the door with a package for you? What if mom falls and can’t get up? What if someone tells you that we are dead or sick and wants you to accompany them to the hospital? Do you tell someone on the phone that you are home alone? Teach your child to make an emergency call by dialing “911” or “0” in case of an emergency. Law enforcement officials prefer to send an officer with a false alarm and then have a child injured or abducted.
3. SECRET WORD AND PLACE Always choose a designated meeting place in theme parks or shopping centers, such as easily recognizable McDonalds restaurants. Many children, who are separated from their parents, are not considered “lost” if they are still having fun. Be sure to clearly define “lost” as not with mom or dad. Make up a secret family password that no adult can guess, and that’s a fun visual image your child will remember, like “The blue hippo is hungry.” Teach your child to ask their parents, teachers, or babysitters for permission before going anywhere.
4. BONE IN THE TUMMY Children have no experience with wrongdoers, but they do have survival instincts. They may not recognize a kidnapper or predator other than a strange sensation in their stomach that warns them of eerie danger. Foster this awareness by asking them in different situations: “Do you feel safe, do you feel good, can you feel danger?” when they are considering jumping from a high place, reaching out to pet a strange dog, or when they are near an overly friendly stranger or a noisy bully.
5. BEHAVE PROPERLY We teach our children to quietly accept adults, but if a stranger takes them away, teach your child to throw a full-blown tantrum, yelling “Kidnapper, help” while kicking and trying to get loose. Once they are safe, they can turn to a store clerk, police officer, or family for help if they get lost, scared off by an attempted kidnapping or predator. Tell your child not to walk away from you in a public place because someone might try to steal it from you.
6. SMILE The police need a full face photo taken in the last six months or, if your child is under two years old, four times a year. Prepare a kit for each child that is an emergency box. Put a current photo, a detailed description of your child, including height, weight, age, eye and hair color, birthmarks, broken bones, scars, moles, physical characteristics or medical needs inside the box. Include names, addresses, and names of your child’s friends’ parents, favorite parks, and activities. Ask your dentist to prepare a complete dental chart for your child that is updated with each new tooth change. Ask your doctor for a copy of your child’s medical records and remind him to write in his chart that the information should never be released without your written approval. Consider storing an old toothbrush, baby teeth, a bloody band-aid, or a lock of hair in a sealed envelope as a DNA sample for the highest level of identification. Arrange with your local police department to have your child fingerprinted (the officers make it easy and fun) and give you the fingerprint card. Imagine if someone said that your child belongs to them, not to you. The contents of the box will help prove that you are the parent and help the police find the child if he or she is missing.
7. JUST FOR A SECOND A tired, burned-out parent only needs to let their guard down for a second to allow a predator to act. Always accompany your child to the bathroom even if other adults are uncomfortable. To protect your child, never hesitate to take a child with you to the men’s or women’s bathroom, regardless of the child’s gender, instead of sending it alone. A child is not safe playing unsupervised in his garden, walking alone, alone at home or abandoned in a vehicle, ever. Parents with a tied toddler may seem tough, but imagine how you would feel if your sweet attention-deficit child or unruly toddler walked away in the opposite direction. When you have two or more children, the difficulty of maintaining security and order can grow exponentially.
8. you were supposed to be watching Is someone drinking while looking at the kids and protesting that it’s only a few beers? Someone must be the designated caregiver and be sober, caring, capable, and kind. Be aware of whether your spouse or babysitter seems oblivious or less responsive to your duties. Depression, illness, alcohol and drug use in a caregiver can leave a child virtually unattended. Don’t let it continue. If a spouse wants to drink while on duty, sell the car and hire a daycare to keep your children safe. He goes unexpectedly to babysitters and nurseries. Sit back and watch for a while. Listen to what your child says happens there after you leave.
9. BE CHECKED Are you attracted to younger and younger people? Do your wolf friends whistle at teenage girls? Are you looking at porn that uses young teenagers or guys made to look older? Troubled runaways typically succumb to posing for these photos because they are homeless or high. When you buy this type of pornography you are helping to exploit these children. “Developing and advocating” model legislation “regarding child pornography is crucial to a successful outcome in the fight against child pornography. Currently, there is only strong legislation on child pornography in 5 of the 186 member countries of the Interpol “. (http://www.icmec.org/missingkids). Were you sexually abused as a child? Sometimes if you are the victim, you become extremely in tune and more protective. Yet all too often the old fear appears and leaves you powerless to protect a child, even when the truth is before your eyes. Talk to a therapist confidentially and regain your ability to protect your children and others from knowing first-hand what you experienced.
10. CAN YOU TELL DAD Usually a child will try to tell an adult about the sexual abuse or incest once. If you don’t believe them or tell them they’re lying, they often won’t tell anyone again. Let the child know that you will listen to him, believe him, and stop anyone who tries to hurt him, even if the perpetrator is his best friend, grandparent, relative, or neighbor. Unfortunately, the child often knows the person who hurts him and this causes great confusion and guilt in the child. If a child is afraid or tries to avoid someone, you should pay attention, he is asking for your help. Some people use teasing and teasing to grab and touch a child, and then tease them if they complain. Those adults are using your child and hiding behind humor. Stop them. When your child puts personal information on his clothes or on the Internet, it is an open door for all the bastards in the world. Just say no to your child and explain why.
11. NEWBORNS In the last twenty years, the highest number of baby abductions has occurred in California, Texas and Florida. The profile of a typical abductor is that of an overweight woman who tends to plan the abduction in advance and take advantage of the opportune moment to seize a baby. The woman often impersonates a nurse or a health worker and enters a hospital room and brings the baby in for examination, etc. But a kidnapper can be anyone. “While it is normal for new parents to be anxious, it is of the utmost importance to deliberately monitor the newborn baby. Never leave your baby out of your direct line of sight, even when going to the bathroom or taking a nap. Leave the room. or plan to go to sleep, notify the nurses to take the baby back to daycare or ask a family member to watch the baby … If you are uncomfortable with someone requesting to bring your baby or you cannot clarify what tests are being done or why your baby is being taken out of their room, it is appropriate to go with your baby to observe the procedure … take at least one color photograph of your baby (full front view) along with the footprints and compile a complete written description of your baby, including hair and eye color, length, weight, date of birth, and specific physical characteristics. ” (www.missingkids.com)
12. CALL THEM
The professionals are ready to help you. “Since 1982, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has spearheaded the national effort to prevent the abduction of children and return missing and exploited children to their families. In partnership with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP ), NCMEC continues to improve and expand its capacity to provide critical intervention and prevention services to families and to support law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local levels. ” (http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/fs200128.pdf). The Kentucky Missing & Exploited Children’s Unit was organized in 1984 to create a centralized clearinghouse to help law enforcement agencies locate and return missing children to their homes. Many stores, like Walmart, have a Code Adam action plan: If a child is missing from the store, employees immediately mobilize to search for the missing child.
Visit http://www.missingkids.com, http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/missing/i_safety/icac.htm and http://www.take25.org for more information. The reality of today’s world requires that parents be very vigilant and take precautions and preventive measures to prevent kidnapping, exploitation, Internet crime, pornography and violence. Parents, take the initiative to protect your children by being there, watching and being trustworthy guardians.
