Child Abductions: How To Keep Children Safe

Steps can be taken to reduce or prevent abductions of children, especially nonfamily abductions, which often pose the direst of consequences. Catalyst provides some tips for keeping children safe.

By Deborah Boone, NCPC Staff

The very thought of a child being abducted wreaks havoc with most people’s emotions. Televised stories about families who are in anguish over their missing child are heartbreaking. Some find the topic too difficult to contemplate and turn away. The vast majority of parents and caregivers do their best to keep their children safe, but even then things can go wrong.

The best national estimates for the number of missing children come from the annual National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART), of the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. NISMART estimates that 2,000 children are reported missing each day in the United States. Of the 730,000 children reported missing each year by NISMART, 200,000 are abducted by family members, and 58,000 are abducted by nonfamily individuals. The remaining children who go missing are runaways; children who are “thrown away,” forced to leave the home without a place to stay and prevented from returning home; children who become injured and are unable to return home; children who become lost; and children who have misunderstood curfews and are being temporarily cared for by relatives.

While nonfamily abductions are the least frequent type of child abduction, they have the most serious consequences. The primary motive for nonfamily abductions is sexual molestation. Worse, each year 115 children are the victims of the most heinous abductions; they are murdered, held with the intent to keep permanently, or held for ransom. Those with responsibility for children, in law enforcement, social welfare agencies, or other fields should make sure that they or the parents and guardians of the children they supervise talk with their children to keep them safe from any type of abduction. Without scaring them, they should explore any concerns the children may have, then provide the tips below.

Good advice is for children to run away and yell, then tell a trusted adult whenever they sense danger from a stranger or even someone they know but who makes them feel threatened. Their intuition is paramount. Children do not always understand what a “stranger” is, since often the child is in some way familiar with the perpetrator. It may be hard for children to judge danger by someone’s appearance, especially someone they know. But they may well be able to tell if a situation is good or bad.

If a child can’t get home or to a trusted adult, to a reputable business or a respected place like a library or to law enforcement, NCPC sponsors McGruff Houses in many states where children can go for help. A McGruff House is identified by an easily recognizable sign in a window. A child who goes to one can count on a safe welcome from a trained volunteer and a call to his or her parents or guardian and, if necessary, to the appropriate social welfare or law enforcement agency. Similarly, NCPC licenses the operation of McGruff Trucks, specially marked utility vehicles in many states that a child can flag down for help. The trucks are all equipped with two-way radios and are operated by drivers with special training.

NCPC also recommends that children be provided with the tips below.

• Memorize your home phone number and address, and your parents’ work and cell phone numbers, or write these numbers on a card and carry it with you.
• If a stranger asks you to go somewhere, offers you a gift, or just wants to talk, say you need to ask your parents first. Then go and tell your parents or a trusted adult.
• Be aware of dangerous situations. If a stranger asks you for help or to keep a “secret,” it could be a dangerous situation. Say no and tell a trusted adult.
• Remember the rules about strangers: Don’t talk to them, don’t go anywhere with them, and don’t take anything from them.
•  Never get into a car with a stranger or even a family friend if you sense there is a problem, a parent hasn’t told you about a scheduled pick-up, or you just feel funny about it.
• If you see something that doesn’t seem right, like a car you don’t recognize driving around your block again and again, tell an adult right away. This way you can help keep your neighborhood safe.
• Stick with friends. It’s always safer to play in a group.
• Work out a safe route to school with your parents. Stay away from parks, vacant lots, fields, and other places where there aren’t many people around.
• Whenever you can, walk to and from school with a friend, brother, sister, or neighbor. Don’t go by yourself.
• If you are out with your parents, have a plan if you get separated from them. Know where to meet them and how to get in touch with them if you can’t find them.

Those with responsibility for children should review these tips with them every few months. These tips and others can be found at NCPC’s website for children, www.McGruff.org. Just go to the topics under Advice.

Abductions make up less than 2 percent of all violent crimes against juveniles reported to the police, according to the National Incident-Based Reporting System. But while there are fewer child abductions than some other violent crimes, this crime strikes a nerve and causes people in communities across America to feel vulnerable.

With safety education and crime prevention, the cooperation of law enforcement with community groups, and by addressing the social issues related to family dysfunction and sexual exploitation that leave children vulnerable to abduction, the incidence of this crime against children can be reduced. How we all look forward to the time when it will not be sad reports of missing children that fill the airwaves but rather a time when children’s joyful songs fill the air.

Resources:

Amber Watch Foundation, http://www.amberwatchfoundation.org/

Association of Missing and Exploited Childrens Organization, http://www.amecoinc.org

Child Find of America Inc., http://www.childfindofamerica.org/, call 800-I-AM-LOST

Enough is Enough, http://www.enough.org/

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, http://www.ncmec.org/