Talking to your child about safety before new school year

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Experts are urging parents to talk to their child about safety before the new school year starts.

Keeping our children safe is one of the biggest concerns parents have.

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“As soon as their children are out in the world, certainly once they are going to school, it’s a great time to start having conversations about what to do if they were to face a potentially dangerous situation,” said Stacy Garrett, vice president of content & community engagement for National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

We often hear the phrase “stranger danger,” however, the NCMEC recommends not using the word stranger.

“What we found is that kids are more confused by that topic than anything. There’s also a factor where some of the instances where kids are victimized not by someone that they don’t know. So instead, we just talk to them about potential risky situations and we really want the goal being that they feel empowered. So that they know what could happen, but that they know that they have support and that they know what to do if they were to face a risky situation,” said Garrett.

With the new school year fast approaching, right now is the best time to have these conversations with your children, making sure they know how to take action and get away if they find themselves in a dangerous situation.

“The National Center has since 2005 been conducting an analysis on attempted abductions to really understand what are the methods that abductors use and what are some of the ways that kids have been able to get away and avoid those situations. In nearly 80% of those instances, kids are able to take action that helps them get away. Whether it’s running, screaming or in other ways fighting or resisting, and so we want to prepare our kids so that they are able to take those steps if needed,” said Garrett.

Experts say most perpetrators will use the same tactics to abduct a child.

“We see abductors when their approaching children, they’re likely to use tactics like offering them a ride, or asking them a question. So what we can do for preparing kids to respond to those situations is to make sure that they know that they can say no. To make sure that they know that they have the ability to not participate or answer that adult’s question, and so that’s part of that concept of empowerment because we want the kids to know that they have the right to refuse, even if it is an adult that’s approaching them because I think so often we are condition to agree with or go along with adults who come up to us, especially for younger children,” Garrett said.

Another method that can be effective is role playing or acting out a scenario.

“Through KidSmartz, which is the national center’s personal safety program, we have a couple of options there to help with scenarios that a child can practice with the adult,” said Garrett.

It’s also important for kids to travel in numbers and never alone.

Parents are being reminded to limit the information they share on social media about their child, including back-to-school photos that list their name, age and school.

For personal safety and abduction prevention tips and resources, click here.

For online safety tips and resources, click here.

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