WUNRN
Center for Missing & Exploited
Children
USA Study - Global Significance
Study:
72% of Attempted Abduction Victims Are Female.
CONSIDER FOR SAFETY OF GIRLS
CHILDREN AT GREATEST RISK OF ABDUCTION WHEN GOING TO AND FROM SCHOOL OR SCHOOL-RELATED ACTIVITIES
CAMPAIGN TO HELP PARENTS KEEP THEIR CHILDREN SAFE
ALEXANDRIA, VA – August 18, 2010 --As parents prepare for the start of a new school year, teaching children how to be safe needs to be at the top of their list of things to do. An analysis by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) of attempted abductions during the past five years found that children are at most risk when going to and from school or school-related activities. NCMEC is partnering with actor Tim Kang, of the hit CBS show The Mentalist, to launch a new campaign to help educate parents about what they should be telling their children to keep them safe.
“A common factor with children who escaped their would-be abductors was that the child did something proactive instead of being passive or polite: 31% yelled, kicked, pulled away or attracted attention and 53% of the children walked or ran away,” said Ernie Allen, President & CEO of NCMEC. “We know that teaching children about safety works. Tim Kang is an ideal spokesman to help increase awareness among parents about what they should be teaching their children to keep them safe.”
“As a new dad I am more aware than ever before of the dangers that children face and of the need for parents to do anything possible to help keep their children safe,” said actor Tim Kang. “If parents would spend just a few minutes teaching their children about safety, it could literally end up meaning the difference between life and death. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has great resources for parents including a Know the Rules series of safety tips parents should routinely review with their children.”
An estimated 800,000 children are reported missing every year. That is 2,000 children every day or one child every 40 seconds. NCMEC analyzed more than 4200 attempted abductions for the five year period from February 2005 and March 2010 and found that:
The five most common lures included offering a child a ride, offering the child candy or sweets, showing the child an animal or asking for help finding an animal, offering the child money and asking the child for directions.
Parents also need to understand that most of those who abduct children are not “strangers”. The phrase “stranger danger” is pervasive in our culture. However, teaching children to only be afraid of strangers is the wrong message. Children don’t get it. Children view a “stranger” as someone who is “ugly” or “mean”. If someone spends time talking to a child or is even just around a child they think they “know” the person and don’t view them as a stranger. Research shows that of the 58,000 non-family abductions each year 63% involved a friend, long-term acquaintance, neighbor, caretaker, baby sitter or person of authority and only 37% involved a stranger. The number of pure strangers is not insignificant but it remains far smaller than other offenders who have easy and legitimate access to children.
As children return to school parents should take time to review the below ten Back-to School Safety Tips adapted from the NCMEC Know the Rules Child Safety series.
About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization. Since it was established by Congress in 1984, the
organization has operated the toll-free 24-hour national missing children’s
hotline which has handled more than 2,475,300 calls. It has assisted law
enforcement in the recovery of more than 151,300 children. The
organization’s CyberTipline has handled more than 935,920 reports of child
sexual exploitation and its Child Victim Identification Program has reviewed
and analyzed more than 37,030,200 pornography images and videos. The
organization works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice’s office
of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. To learn more about
NCMEC, call its toll-free, 24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit its web
site at www.missingkids.com.
Ten Important Back-to-School Safety Tips
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