As with any serious life situation, prevention is key. Knowing what to look out for to keep a child abductor away from your family is the first step in preventing a child’s abduction. There are many red flags and warning signs to look out for, and knowing what they are can be a life-saving measure.
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Location
Knowing how close a potential child abductor is to your home is step one. Using sites like www.kidslivesafe.com can give you the exact location of any registered sexual offender in your neighborhood. Kids Live Safe also allows you to run a background check on anyone, so you can be confident of any person you bring into you and your child’s lives. Kids Live Safe’s database is comprised of registered sex offenders in all 50 states, ensuring an easy and reliable background search no matter where you are or where the person you are researching is from. Kids Live Safe gives parents the tools they need to keep their kids safe.
Asking a Child For Help
If you see or hear an adult asking a child for help with anything, it should send up a red flag. Predators use this technique to take advantage of a child’s willingness to help and count on their misplaced trust in them as an adult. Children are likely to try to help the stranger without realizing they aren’t capable of what they’re being asked for, like giving directions or helping unlock a car door. Making sure to teach your children to never approach a strange adult in their car, or walk away with a stranger, no matter how close the stranger tells them they’re going, are ways you can help keep your kids informed, alert, and safe. If a conversation like this is overheard, do not take it lightly. If an adult person was in need of real help, they would know not to seek it from a child. Calling the police or intervening could save their lives.
Promises and Bribery
It sounds cliche, but offering kids candy, toys, or other things they may like to get them to walk away is textbook predator behavior. Children naturally want to trust and make friends, and offering up desirable things to them makes them feel as if they are safe and with someone nice enough to give them things. If an adult is promising such things to a child in return for them to walk away from a crowded area together, it is a dangerous bribe and should be treated as such. Teaching kids to know these signs and behaviors will keep them aware and alert. As we said before, if you witness this kind of conversation with any child and adult, act fast. Trying to locate the child’s parent or guardian, intervening in the conversation, or calling the police could be life-saving acts and should be done immediately after hearing the concerning conversation. Trust your intuition, if your gut is telling you something is wrong then it probably is, and in any case, it is much better to be safe than to be sorry you didn’t act.
Kids Live Safe
Kids Live Safe is an organization founded to keep you educated and aware of who is around your home and life. Visit them at www.kidslivesafe.com to see how many sex offenders live in your neighborhood, or do a background check on anyone in your kid’s life.