Keeping Your Children Safe from Stranger Kidnapping

Although the odds of stranger kidnapping are slim (only 1 in 7 kidnapping cases is related to stranger kidnapping, while all the other 6 are family/ acquaintance kidnapping cases, watch the video here), we still need to learn more about it in case any thing happens.

A recent social experiment found that 7 out of 10 kids are willing to walk off with a total stranger. Are they not told not to talk or walk away with strangers? Of course they are, but how can a man holding a cute puppy be a bad person? People’s thoughts/ image about a kidnapper are originated from tv shows and movies, that’s why a stereotypical form of kidnapping has already been set up in our mind.

According to the research made by The National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART), the summer months of June, July and August have the highest rate of abductions. When children leave their school spending time on all sorts of activities, but at the same time their parents are still working in the office. This gives the kidnappers a great chance to take action. Amusement parks, playgrounds, beaches and malls can all be accessible places to would-be kidnappers.

Common lures used by stranger kidnappers

As mentioned above, animals are often used as a means of luring kids. There are some other commonly used lures as well.

For instance, assistance lure. In an assistance lure case, a kidnapper would approach children by asking them to give him a hand with carrying stuff to the car or faking that he is worried about his lost dog and need someone to help looking. This way, a kidnapper doesn’t even need to drag kids away in public, it seems like kids are willing to walk away with him!

Kidnappers have a lot of ways to trick your kids, the link could provide you with more detailed information about them.

How to avoid stranger kidnapping

There are 3 things you have to make sure your kids memorize them.

1. Phone Number

Try putting notes in conspicuous places, such as next to their bed or on the fridge. When passing through school, malls, and playgrounds, remind them the phone numbers once again. Not only do your kids need to memorize home/emergency numbers, but they also need to be able to make a phone call by themselves. Teach your kids how to make phone calls on both home phone and your cell phone. You could also try making a song to help them memorize strings of numbers.

2. Address

Remembering home address is very important to your little ones. Apart from that, they also have to know how to look for help from a safe stranger. You could either make a song out of your home address or get them draw a map of the neighborhood pointing out some sites within.

3. Family Code Word

Set up a code word among your family and try mixing it into games and stories to make it fun and easy to remember. Do not use your pet’s name or anything that is obvious or easy to guess. And also teach them not to go with any stranger that doesn’t know the family code word.

Keep all this information in mind and you shouldn’t be so worried about your kids’ safety when they are not in your sight. For more information on kidnap prevention, check out this Parents’ Guide to Preventing Kidnapping by KidGuard.