10 Ways to protect your kids from Abduction and stranger danger. So this Wednesday, a very serious situation happened in south Philadelphia. An attempted abduction of a 10 year old girl walking with her brother, she fought off her attacker and he left her alone. Great Girl!! Everything was caught on video tape you can watch the attempted abduction happen below.
**NOTE: It is alarming graphic video so avoid watching it with your children- they cant process the images as an adult would.
What did the 10year old girl do? Yell Bite, Scratch, kick, and scream. Everything you hope your child would do in this situation. But would your have done the same ?
Yesterday, I was asked to have a discussion with Tracey Donaldson from NBC10 and other local mommy bloggers Hillary from My Scraps, Karla from BellyButtonBoutique and Linda from FrugalPhillyMom about this scary situation. How does this affect your parenting and how are you going to talk to your kids about this?
View more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com.
I think, I live in a safe area, this does not happen where I live? Right??? True South Philly is 45 minutes from my home, but the perpetrator was from North Philly 10 minutes from my home. The parent of the little girl thought they lived in a safe area things like this, never happened there either.
The Truth is Crime and bad people live everywhere. We must make our kids aware and safe when we are not there.
I did speak with kids prior to going to the interview and ask them what they would do if approached by a stranger who tries to take them. My 11 year old son said .. all the right things fight yell. My 7 year old daughter on the other hand was not sure. Now my son is away from me, my daughter not so much, because she is 7. Time for me to talk to her.
I do not want my kids to be scared the world because has too much to offer. I think that you can make your kids aware but not scared. I want my son to walk to the store and experience life. If you read my post about camping I do let the kids be free, (we use the buddy system) Long as they are smart.
This is my strategy with my kids: Stranger Danger (these tips are for a older kid that is getting more Freedom):
10 Ways to Avoid Abduction and Stranger Danger
- Don’t Talk to Strangers
- Walk aware Listen for who and what is around you
- Do not walk and text or listen to loud music
- Walk in daylight no dark- avoid areas without people
- Do Not go near cars that pull over, do not help people looking for directions.. let an adult help them.
- Buddy System
- Never go to someone’s house without telling a parent (including a friend)
- Teach them how to YELL low, forceful and PRACTICE (My daughter feels strange practicing yelling all the more reason to do so)
- Show them how to fight Tell them it is OK to BITE,HIT,SCRATCH,AND KICK. (let then know to hit in the private areas)
- Then run and tell and adult!! Police and Parents are there to protect you. Most people are good but there are a few bad ones, you cant tell- So trust the funny feeling in your gut.
Then Practice Yelling and fighting
Here are some resources I found on Child Safety:
- Take a quiz to see how aware your kids are Stranger Danger quiz
- This is a stranger danger video it is a little dated but covers a lot without being scary Stranger Danger Video
- If your kids gets lost here are some great tips Missing Children
- This is a great resource kid friendly site for Internet Strangers or Internet Safety Quiz
What are your tips? please share in comments so other readers can learn from you.
Please talk to your kids and make them aware.
Please Note: The girl was able to identify her attacker and he is now behind bars awaiting trial. Because of her strength and technology this crime was quickly brought to justice. She is Amazing!!!