A few months back, with mixed emotions, I made the decision to let my eldest child walk to school by herself in the mornings. I felt it was time. She's in 5th grade now. Plus, we only live 0.4 miles to school, mostly a straight shot, and we are fortunate enough to have 2 school crossing guards.
Last night, I received a phone call that made me rethink that decision. A prerecorded recording from the school secretary informed us that the other day a stranger tried to lure one of our students into his car. Thankfully, this child rebuked his efforts and wasn't hurt. A few weeks ago the same incident happened in a bordering town (literally a few blocks away from our house).
The following morning, I trailed M and her friend like a hawk on their way to school. Surprisingly, they didn't seem to mind. In fact, the girls peppered me with questions:
"WHY would someone want to kidnap us?"
"WHAT would they DO once they caught you?"
I admit, I didn't know what to say. A few times I just mentioned there were "bad" people out there. I remember my own parents telling me when I was younger that these "bad people" didn't have children, so they wanted to take some for their own.
(Yeesh. What answer do you give your own children?)
In any case, this was a good wakeup call. Lately I've been a little lax in the area of child safety, I'm embarrassed to admit, and I'm the daughter of a cop (he also worked a number of years as a homicide and narcotics officer for the SJPD). So I rehashed with my children all the safety tips: never approach a car, run and scream like mad if approached by anyone who says they have a puppy or kitten. Always walk with a buddy (the more the better), although I won't be letting my children walk by themselves anytime soon.
Later that evening, we went over our secret password, or um, had to change it to a new one being that S spilled the beans to some of his friends.
But, the number one thing I said over and over to my children and their friends as we walked to school that morning, is to always always
be aware. Be aware of people and your surroundings. Look around you. Don't keep your head glued in a book or texting a friend (yes, I've seen some kids do this).
My father always told me alertness was the best preventative safety measure from sexual predators or any crime where you are caught off guard. I know it seems like such common sense, yet all too often we let down our guard.
What safety tips do you share with your own children?
Photo courtesy of
D Sharon Pruitt via Creative Commons on Flickr
