Child Safety Tips and Free CD

by Greg Pospiel

According to the latest statistics, 840,270 persons were reported missing in 2001. Of that number, 651,209 were juveniles. Of these, 119,237 juveniles are listed as "endangered" (missing in the company of another person or under circumstances that indicate their life is in danger).

As important as all of our educational lessons are, I feel that safety education is perhaps the most important lesson we can give our children.

To understand how to keep our children safe we must first understand the mind of the child molester. While I am not a psychologist, I have learned many lessons from my time in child safety. Child molesters are most often known by their victims….a neighbor, relative, family friend, or contractor or other person the child trusts. Child molesters select targets of opportunity. They usually are not caught until they have already molested hundreds of children. They are repeat offenders and it very difficult, if not impossible, to rehabilitate them. Children are their sexual preference.

Child molesters will often pick a child who is quiet and tends to wander off from the crowd on his own. They seek out employment in places where access to children is readily available. They will seek out jobs such as school bus driver, little league coach, Cub Scout leader, carnival worker, children's entertainment centers and other jobs that involve children. They are experts at keeping their secret just as we have seen recently with some priests in the Catholic Church.

Molesters usually work by gaining a child's trust and then luring him/her away with some type of promise or threat. The random drive-by kidnapping is the rarest of all. The child molester will more often than not stalk out his victim to some degree. He might even follow the parent home from the grocery store or shopping mall. He will also hang around parks, play areas, public restrooms, malls or schools.

It is important for all of us to be more aware of these very important child safety tips:

• Know where your child is and whom they are with at all times.
• Don't put their names on jackets, school bags or other clothing.
• Never leave children unattended in a parked car at the bank or post office.
• Never allow them to use public restrooms alone.
• Monitor your children's Internet usage closely.
• Do not allow them to enter chat rooms (this is a favorite hangout of child molesters).
• Never arrange to meet anyone you talk to on the Internet.
• Be aware of people who pay extra attention to your child or children in general i.e inviting neighborhood kids over to play video games.
• Never give out personal information about your child on the Internet
(Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Crime Information Center, Missing Person File)