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Reducing Child Abduction Risks
By Jackie Gately

There are many ways you can keep your child safe from abduction. Techniques range from common-sense prevention steps to GPS tracker devices with immediate alerts that assure the fastest possible return to safety. Consider these proactive steps to protect your child:

1. Avoid writing your child’s name on backpacks, clothing, and belongings. It gives predators information they can use to seem familiar—it’s hard for a child not to respond to her name.
2. Raise your child’s awareness. Explain that “bad” people don’t always look bad. In fact, some might seem very nice, offering gifts or rides. Others might prey on his emotions by asking for help finding a lost puppy, or saying a parent is hospitalized.
3. It only takes a moment for a child to meander out of view at home. If you live on a busy street or a remote area, a GPS tracker can alert you if she is approaching boundaries (“geo fencing”). Child locating features ensure a quick response.
   
4. Maintain current records on your child. Include a head and shoulders photograph (printed and electronic); a written description of hair and eye color, height and weight, date of birth and other physical attributes (birthmarks, eyeglasses, braces); current medical and dental records; a copy of finger prints taken by local officials.

5. Keep a close eye on your child in stores, malls, and other public place. Make sure your little wanderer knows what to do if you do get separated: discuss a meeting place, seek help from a store associate, and memorize his full name, address, and phone number in case authorities need to find you.
6. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that 1 of 5 girls and 1 of 6 boys will be molested before their 18th birthday. Encourage your child to say “No!” if touched in any way that makes her feel uncomfortable. Teach her to run away, kick, and scream if she feels unsafe.
7. Someone familiar commits 90% of sexual assaults against children, so investigate your community. Local police station release information in the National Sex Offenders Registry on request, or you can identify registered sex offenders online by zip code at familywatchdog.us.
8. Be aware of predators in cyberspace. It’s easy for someone to disguise his identity or pose as a “friend” on the Internet. Avoid posting information and photos of your child online, and remind your child not to give out information or chat with anyone he doesn’t know in person.
9. Children of divorcing parents or in custody battles can be at higher risk for parental abduction. Be sure restraining orders and court documentation cover visitation and travel rules in detail, and that school officials and friends are aware of any special considerations.
10. Each year, hundreds of children are wrongfully removed from the US or retained in another country by a parent or other family member. If your child’s parent has dual or foreign citizenship and you have reason to believe your child might be at risk, research the country’s extradition rules in advance. Some foresight and a GPS tracker can help locate him globally.

Jackie Gately is a freelance writer. She can be reached at jackiegately.wordpress.com.