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TEACHERS.NET GAZETTE
Volume 3 Number 12
COVER STORY
Eric Carle said, "I long dreamt of a museum for children and families," and now his dream has come true...
ARTICLES
The Very Busy Museum - A conversation with Eric Carle by Kathleen Alape Carpenter, Editor in Chief
Kindergartners Share Thanksgiving Recipes Posted by their teacher on the Teachers.Net chatboard
Greetings from the Coast Guard Cutter POLAR SEA! by LT. Marshall Branch
Editor's e-Picks for Education News by Kathleen Carpenter - Editor, Teachers.Net Gazette
We Get What We Get - The Bottom Line On Parent Accountability by Bill Page
Don't Forget the Little People: A Vision for an Online Learning Community for Kindergarten by Jaclyn Scott
Learning the Continents Through Songs & Poems by Karen/PA/Rdg
A View on Holiday Art by Kathy Roberson
How to Deal With Bullying in Your Classroom by William Voors
STUDENT TUTORS = SYMBIOTIC EFFECT
  • More Than Just "Reading Buddies" - An Overview of School-based Mentor Programming by Peggy Cramer
  • A Remarkable Program For At-Risk, Middle Level Students by Bill Page
    • Child Safety Tips and Free CD by Greg Pospiel
    60 Ways to Practice Spelling by Michele McCoy
    December Columns
    December Regular Features
    December Informational Items
    Gazette Home Delivery:

    About Greg Pospiel...
    Greg Pospiel is a concerned parent who became involved with child safety in 1994 while living in Central New York after working as a search and rescue volunteer in the Heidi Allen case. Heidi was eighteen years old when she was abducted from a convenience store where she worked. An extensive search involving Police, national Guardsmen as well as hundreds of volunteers went on for weeks but Heidi was never found. Later, Greg formed a group called Fighting Back which promoted Child Safety education and also helped promote the passage of Megan's law in New York State. He also wrote "My Safety Song" by taking the safety tips he learned and putting them into rhyming verses.

    Greg is currently working with John Bish who's teenage daughter Molley was abducted about a year ago from a pond in West Brookfield, MA where she was working as a lifeguard. He is also contacting local Police Departments, parents and teachers and encouraging them to make use of the song to promote child safety.

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    Teacher Feature...

    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)

    I am now making a CD of "My Safety Song" available free of charge to teachers across America hoping that every child can hear it and learn the basics of staying safe. Children have fun and memorize the song quickly, and teachers invite me back year after year to play the song. I have found this the easiest way to teach kids about safety. You can visit my web page at www.webspawner.com/users/safetysong or e-mail me at eliasdoumar@aol.com and I will e-mail you a text copy or you can request the CD.
    Browse through the current discussions in the Mentor Center...
     

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