Education helps protect themselves

Page 10

Every day across Canada, children disappear. Many are never again seen alive.

Almost 56,000 kids were listed as missing in 1993 by the RCMP Missing Children's Registry. More than 3,300 were never found.

Law enforcement agencies train officers specifically on how to deal with such situations, and have units which go to schools to talk to and educate kids. But parents often wonder if it's enough. Are the children being taught in a way they can understand? Are they being taught what to do if someone tries to grab them?

"One of the things we try to teach to kids is avoidance of the situation," said Const.. Darren Hodson from the Crime Prevention Unit, Edmonton Police Services. The unit goes to schools and talks to the kids about safety.

"What we do is target Kindergarten to grade three," he explained. "We teach them what is a block parent, what is a stranger? A stranger can be anybody, no matte what they look like."

Hodson said many children have an idea in their minds of what a stranger looks like, such as a man with a beard, or a dark coat.

"We teach them about the lures somebody may try to use, like 'help me look for my puppy,' or 'come look at a toy,' and we empower them to say 'no' to an adult," he said. "We teach the kids that adults aren't going to ask a little kid for help, they're going to ask another adult. Adults don't ask children for help to look for a dog."

Sixty-one children were abducted by strangers in 1993. More than 400 children were abducted by a parent or family member.

Const. David DeMarco, a Trainer with the Officer Safety Unit of Edmonton's

Police Services, said if a parent is worried about the safety of a child, it's essential to ensure the children are always under observation. Whether playing outside or going to or from school, they need to be constantly supervised.

Parents should call police immediately if they suspect their child is missing. Field officers would be dispatched to investigate further, DeMarco said.

"We want to consider the safety of the child first. Their safety, that is first and foremost."

All education and information is helpful, DeMarco added.

"Most of the programs schools have today are right down to basics. Don't talk to strangers, don't wander away, learning to identify block parents, and about not going and putting themselves at risk."

DeMarco thinks organizations such as the RCMP Missing Children's Registry, Child Find, and The Missing Children Society of Canada are very positive sources for communication and information. Although Edmonton police have a good relationship with other police srvices, it can be hard to share information, he said.

"Once a missing person's report is confirmed, it's very helpful not only to have fingerprints, but also to have current pictures," he said, referring to organizations that provide these services to parents.

Officers with the Edmonton Police Services are trained in how to respond to missing person's reports in theory and by experience in the field.

Experts say children are bombarded with information about stranger danger, but do they know who a stranger is? Strangers include people like the postman and the person behind the counter at the store.

Hodson said parents should teach kids to "kick, scream, and make a lot of noise? if someone scares or tries to grab them.

"The more we talk about this, it gives them an awful lot of confidence," he said. ""We try to give them ammunition so it they find themselves in a situation, they can react."