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Preventing Child Abduction
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Probably one of my biggest fears as a parent, the prospect of Child Abduction is absolutely terrifying but it is important to remember that the chances of such an occurrence are quite slim and most kids actually do pass through childhood safely.
Although this is true, it’s totally natural to worry about you as a parent can stop this from happening to your children.
One of the many challenges of being a parent is to teach your children to be cautious without filling them with any fear or anxiety. Although some dangers do exist, you lessen the chances that your child will be abducted….
We often try to protect our kids by saying “Don’t talk to strangers” – but many child abductions involve a relative or someone the child knows.
Here are a few lessons to teach your children and what you as a parent can do to be more vigilant:
- Parents should learn when and where kids are most vulnerable in order to better protect them. In an analysis of attempted abductions, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC) found that many:
- Involved a suspect driving a vehicle
- Occurred between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
- Occurred when the child was traveling to or away from school
- Involved girls and children between the ages of 10 and 14
- The Internet is a great tool, but it’s also a place for predators to stalk kids. Be aware of your kids’ Internet activities and chat room “friends,” and remind them never to give out personal information. Avoid posting identifying information or photos of your kids online.
- The review conducted by the NCMEC also revealed that 83% of children who escaped the abductor, ran away or kicked and screamed and actually escaped – which means that it’s often best to take action that to be passive. Set up a safety plan for your children by:
- Encourage them to tell a trusted adult whenever anything or anyone makes them uncomfortable.
- Point out places they can go for help when walking places like school and the park.
- Remind them to travel and stay with a group.
- Teach them the tricks would-be abductors use, such as offering money or asking for help.
- Warn them about accepting rides or changing plans without your permission.
Sherry
February 10, 2016 at 12:54 am
Being an 8 year old Victim myself. I would like to share my story to warn parents. I had a little girl classmate who invited me to go to the local swimming center in our area.
My mother said yes if the girls mother would be taking us. The classmate asked me to meet her in our school yard which was just half a block from my home.
My mother became busy with her chores and told me I could go meet her. I went to meet my classmate. After I got into the car I noticed her mother was Not in the car. The girl stated her mom had to work and her dad would be taking us. Next thing I knew I was in a strange area by the Olentangy river. The man was her step dad and he was about to rape me. My classmate said to me…Please let him do it to you or he wont take me anywhere anymore. Then she tried to persuade me by saying another classmate let him. By sheer luck and my own previous experience with my own dads habit of molesting me. I was able to use the fact there were 2 men across the way on the other side of the river who were now wittness to my presence and seeing his car. To manipulate him into taking me home.I jumped out of the back seat once I seen I was in a familiar area but he told the people on the street I was his runaway daughter and so he got me back into his car.
He dropped me half a block from my home with a threat he would burn our house down if I told. Little did he know I wouldn’t bother telling as my father was already molesting me and wouldn’t care.
Kari
September 14, 2016 at 1:58 am
I am sorry that happened to you.
Wanda
February 12, 2016 at 8:19 pm
Parents educate your children. Talk to them about the dangers. The fact that my mom told me to fight back saved my life . This was back in 1967. It’s far worse now than it was back then. Here’s my story.
When I was 9 years old I rode my bike up and down the neighborhood street that ran right next to my house. It was a short L shaped street. An older neighbor who lived on the other end from my house was home all day long due to an alleged disability. He had a fenced in yard with a little Dachshund dog who would run the fence barking wildly when I rode by. It was fun to see him running, so I would ride back and forth playing with him. One day my neighbor came out and asked if I would like to see his grandchildren’s playhouse out in back of his house. He claimed I would love it because there was a play kitchen with a table and chairs. When I said sure he opened the gate and rolled my bike inside claiming he didn’t want anyone to steal it from the street. When he rolled it behind some bushes a slight uneasy feeling came over me. He was so nice and his wife worked at the local mill with my mom , so what was there to fear… right? When we reached the playhouse it was beautiful. It had a porch and a real screened door. As we entered he reached up and locked the door with a hook latch. That feeling came back again because I immediately noticed the latch was way up high above what a child could reach. I knew I was trapped. This is what my momma had warned me about. She had told me if anyone ever tried to force me into a car or house or anywhere that I needed to kick, scream, and fight to get away. The man sat down in one of the little chairs and pulled me between his legs clamping me in place. He began to unbutton my outfit as I pleaded with him please don’t do that to me. He kept reassuring me he wasn’t going to hurt me. Finally, I took both hands and shoved them against his chest so hard he lost his grip. I stumbled backwards turned around jumped up and with exactly the right force I hit the latch with the palm of my hand successfully unlatching the lock. The screen door opened and I fell face first onto the ground because my clothes were half off. I began to scream help me… help!! As I attempted to escape he grabbed me by my ankles as I kicked and fought to free myself. Finally, I scrambled to my feet and ran for the front gate. He was shouting at me the whole time if I told anyone he would kill my whole family. I didn’t try to get my bike I just ran for my life. I hid in some nearby bushes until I got my clothes fastened back. Later right before dark I gathered the courage up to look for my bike. I knew I couldn’t go home without it, because my parents would want to know where it was and I couldn’t tell them what happened. As I approached his house I could see my bike had been put outside the fence by the road. I ran grabbed my bike and flew home. By then it was dark and my dad sparked me for being late coming home. I was so frightened I never told anyone until I was 36 and my little girl was learning to ride a bike. Something snapped deep inside of me and I ended up in counseling trying to pick up the pieces. As an adult I dealt with enormous guilt for not telling anyone. It hit me so hard that he had grandchildren he was probably molesting and I could of stopped it if only I had been brave enough to speak up.
Kari
September 14, 2016 at 1:59 am
I am so sorry that happened to you.
Liz
February 18, 2016 at 9:01 am
It breaks my heart to hear all of these stories about children being molested, one of my kids a boy was molested by a man I trusted,His wife was a good friend of mine so I thought,Parents dont leave your children playing outside without supervision,children need to be protected at all times.
John
August 7, 2016 at 11:21 pm
I would have absolutely no qualms about killing a child molester as painful and slowly as possible-have a nice day!
Karen Cook
September 25, 2016 at 5:54 pm
When I was 8 my14 year old uncle molested me. I found out over the last 50 years I was probably the first but not the last of his victims. I pray for all of them to heal. God took him in a most painful way and he has been dead for 10 years. However the pain he caused lives on. I have extreme trust issues and see a shrink.
lucille
December 1, 2016 at 9:45 pm
My daughter was molested by my brother in law. At the time we were living with my sister an him. She came to me in the middle of the night an i could tell something was wrong. I have always told children they could come to me with anything an i have told about sexual assault. So i took my kids out of their home an went to the police. They arrested him i lost my sister over it. She didnt believe my daughter but i did an to this day i still do.
Neshaboo
March 18, 2017 at 5:35 pm
Its a shame our kids are not safe to play outside even while watching your kids.Victorville man tried to snatch a little girl from store while holding mom’s hand
Cindy Vallance
August 17, 2017 at 2:20 pm
It is a horrific thing for a child to have to go through. A parent to have to deal with and try and move beyond it.one of the most feared by Parents,my heart goes out to you and all children who are still to this day living with the night mare and living with this secret for so so long. Bless you little children and all the Mom and Dad’s ❤
CeCe
September 5, 2017 at 8:06 am
I feel scared and insecure typing this… but here goes.. when I was 12, this girl who was my sister’s friend, (yet she bullied me, not sure why my sister was still friends w her..) set me up, blindly, w this guy friend of hers i had never met, (now that i think about it, not sure why she was “setting me up” w a guy at such a young age!!) I was young and VERY naive and didn’t put two & two together. I talked to him on the phone every other day for two months before meeting him. I thought he was my age at first, although he would talk very dirty and inappropriate to me on the phone and i had no idea what he was actually talking about. We planned a day to meet up and just play at the park…or so i thought.. when i saw him, my stomach twisted in knots. He was much older than me, tall, bad acne, bad teeth. He immediately started bullying these kids at the park we were at, chasing them to beat them down. Then ran my sister off, I was horrified. He then started to fondle me, up my shirt and down my pants on a park bench of all places, completely violating me. I was sooo painfully shy, timid and weak, he threatened me into taking him to my moms house right down the block. I was sooo scared and just ran to my house, he of course followed closely behind me. Once we got to my room, the abuse got much, much worse and i was terrified in tears as he held me down but by the hands of god my father burst through the door at just the right moment, and saved me from that disgusting man. I am sooo grateful my dad saved me from being raped. That person left scars that will never heal its been 21 years since that incident and i am still left w horrible scars, depression and anxiety.. I have a 3 yr old son now and he’s my ENTIRE world.. i am sooo (over) protective w him. I would never, ever, ever let him out of my sight im terrified to do so.