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Student Safety News.com
Print: (English),
Imprimir: (Spanish)
August 13, 2008
How to Keep Kids Safe from the 5 Latest
Back to School
Dangers!
Summer has ended and kids are finally
heading back to school, but a child safety
expert and LAPD officer warns parents and
teachers that this can be one of the most
dangerous times of the year.
Child predators are migrating
from traditional methods to alternate media
as a means of luring children.
Research shows that 95% of the safety tips
we teach children are outdated, leaving our
youth unequipped to face today’s dangers.
Marina del Rey,
California- Do you still tell your children,
‘Don’t talk to strangers,’
‘Use the
buddy system’
and ‘Be safe while surfing the Internet?’
If so, you
might be unknowingly placing them in danger.
Not teaching kids the full extent of
safety, from outdoors to on-line, is like
leaving them in the woods without survival
gear; like prey amidst a world of predators.
Tony Newsom is
author of the “Student Safety Tips Series”
and has over thirty years of experience in
protecting adults and children from
predators that make a career out of
searching for their next victim.
Just years ago,
it was okay to tell a child not to talk to
strangers. At that time the average child
abductor relied on conversations as a means
to gain leverage over a child. Now modern
day predators have evolved and they are
using new tactics, as should parents and
children.
The primary focus
for a child abductor is not to kidnap a
child in person. On the contrary, their
number one goal is to remain unseen while
abducting a child and now the Internet and
console games create the perfect haven for
this.
According to
the
Department of
Justice, more
than 1,379,000 American students were
victims of
violent crimes in 2006 and statistics are on
the rise.
As students
return to school, safety must remain an
active focus in order to avoid a repeat of
record high child abductions. To assure
that no student is left behind in safety,
Newsom has created 5 imperative safety tips
to protect your child:
Back to School
Safety Tip #1
·
If you tell your
child not to talk to strangers, give him/her
a plan of what to do when they are
confronted by someone who may cause them
harm.
If confronted by
a stranger, DON’T talk to that person or
look at them directly in the eye. DO
immediately begin to walk briskly or run, if
necessary, to a responsible adult and tell
them what just occurred.
The responsible
adult should be someone the parent has
deemed to be trustworthy. Examples can be a
school crossing guard, teacher, or another
parent whom you know and trust.
Back to School
Safety Tip#2
·
Do not spend a
lot of time trying to persuade your children
to use the buddy system as a means of
personal safety. There are quite a few flaws
with the buddy system. Many child abductors
diligently seek the opportunity to kidnap
multiple victims.
Recently, a
41-year-old Pizzeria Manager from Missouri
received a life sentence for kidnapping two
boys. You
might remember this story making headlines
and the parents appearing on ‘The Oprah
Winfrey Show’ in 2007. The boys,
13-year-old Ben O. and 11-year-old Shawn H.,
were kidnapped while walking and riding
their bike in a safe area, near their
homes. Ben went missing for four full
years, while Shawn was kidnapped for a
month. Michael Devlin was charged with 69
counts of forcible sodomy, each punishable
up to a life sentence.
This shocking
story brought increasing concern and fear
for many, causing security personnel and
parents to rethink safety measures for
children.
Newsom suggests
that children remain in the immediate eye
sight of their parents, teachers or a
responsible adult, at all times.
Parents and
educators should teach their students “The
New & Improved Buddy System,” which inspires
parent participation on behalf of children,
not just their own.
For example, if
your child’s 7-year-old friend walks to and
from school each day by herself, the New &
Improved Buddy System encourages your child
to ask you to contact her friend’s parents
and ask if her friend can commute with the
two of you each day.
Back to School
Safety Tip #3
·
Protect your
child from Internet predators and become
familiar with the sites they surf on a
regular basis. Thousands of predators can
have access to your child’s personal
information, placing him/her in a vulnerable
situation, without you even knowing. Many
of them spend three to four months searching
MySpace, FaceBook and other Internet sources
to find out a child’s likes, dislikes,
school, home address and favorite places
prior to making their very first Internet
contact.
There are many cases of child predators
meeting a child on-line then trying to move
the game off the screen and turn the
relationship into something bigger.
A Utah man was charged with sexual
exploitation of a minor for enticing a
12-year-old boy into having sex. Needless to
say, they met through an online game,
according to Utah Police.
In December, a Michigan suspect was
convicted of sexual conduct with a minor.
Officers say Adam Glenn Schroeder used the
game, World of Warcraft, to lure a
12-year-old girl into having sex with him.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
These examples
show that it isn’t enough to simply tell
your child to be careful on the Internet
with strangers; parents must monitor their
use so that their child won’t become the
next victim.
It’s also
important not to supply any tool that will
be useful to a predator, since there are
such a high number of them surfing the net
on a daily basis, possibly looking at your
child or one you know as their next prey.
Newsom recommends
removing any photo of your child from the
Internet and any posted information
concerning where they live, attend school or
hang out.
Back to School
Safety Tip #4
·
About 80% of
on-line pedophiles use chat-rooms to make
their luring attempts. Every time your
child goes on-line, there’s a 50% chance
they may engage in an on-going conversation
with someone who is pretending to be a young
child, says Officer Newsom.
Prior to going
on-line, a child should always obtain
approval from a parent or teacher. This
should also be done before the child visits
any new sites, accepts emails or emails
anyone.
Parents and
teachers should also feel comfortable
monitoring their children’s on-line
activity. If any of your children believe
that they have a right to privacy, Newsom
encourages you to advise them that using the
internet is a privilege, not a right. Also
advise them that you are only looking out
for their well-being.
Back to School
Safety Tip
#5
·
Many pedophiles use fictitious photographs
that they have copied from the Internet in
order to pose as an adolescent from another
state or country. As a form of preparation,
they usually spend 6-12 months getting to
know a child on-line (with chats or Internet
games) prior to ever attempting to meet them
face to face.
Since it is difficult to know who is really
a child and who is not, parents should
refrain from having their child play on-line
games with people they haven’t met.
As students return to school this year,
please join with me by forwarding this
information to all the parents and educators
you know. Together we can make a difference
and protect our children.
Many of the safety tips that you have just
read were taken from Tony Newsom’s Student
Safety Tips
Series. His 1st & 2nd
grade book, as well as his 3rd –
5th grade book and “Parent’s
Guide for Raising Safer k-12 Students” are
all available in English and
Spanish. For further information,
visit:
StudentSafetyTips.com
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