Kidnapped Part 3 (revised because the previous article was incomplete!)

The Best Protection

Please let me go on record here as stating that I believe that the best protection against kidnapping lies in the heads of your children! The best protection lies in teaching your children to protect themselves because it is pretty certain that if your child is going to be kidnapped, the perpetrator will make sure that you are nowhere around when they commit the act. Your children must be able to protect themselves!

In a recent article By Wendy Koch, in USA TODAY, she noted, “according to a study released today by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the typical victim is a teenage girl on her way to or from school.
The study, released as a new school year gets underway, examined 403 attempted kidnappings by strangers or slight acquaintances that were reported by police or news media in 45 states from February 2005 to July 2006. It was conducted to learn how such attempts are foiled. The study did not look at successful abductions.

Six in 10 victims fought back and escaped, according to the ongoing study's initial findings. Three in 10 ran away before any physical contact, and about 10% were saved when an adult nearby intervened.

‘It is more important than ever for parents to empower their kids,' says Ernie Allen, the center's president. He says he doesn't want to scare children, but they need to learn to recognize danger and, if attacked, draw attention by screaming, kicking and running away.”

Parental Action

All of that being said, it is still necessary for parents to educate themselves in order to be able to effectively teach their children! There are also lots common sense types of things that parents can do to simply avoid putting children in situations that will make them vulnerable to kidnapping.

Things like never allowing children to used public restrooms unattended, or never allowing children to be out of their sight in crowded places like malls, stadiums, or theaters. (the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, that I will mention further down, will give you many helpful suggestions for protecting your children.)

Internet Safety Is Key

One of the newest tools used by child predators is the Internet. Predators use the internet to attempt to establish relationships with targeted children. Parents absolutely must instruct their children about Internet safety. One great resource for information about Internet safety is our Parenting with Dignity Warning Signs webpage.

Rather that rewrite what has already been written elsewhere I will simply give you the recommendation for a couple of sights that you ought to visit to become well informed about how to protect your children from abduction.

I personally believe that the best source of sound parental advice about child abductions is the site of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Their site is comprehensive and informative without being alarming.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is also the recommended parental help organization of the FBI, who has jurisdiction over all kidnapping in America. I think that speaks loudly of their qualification to offer you help. While you are at it, I would strongly recommend that you visit the FBI site and look over their information on crimes against children. (If you do visit the FBI site please be forewarned to guard yourself against becoming unnecessarily alarmed. Some of the information you find there will alarm just about anyone.) While reading their information please use it to motivate you to keep you children safe!

Guarding children against abduction and kidnapping requires education, careful instruction, common sense, and well practiced, and safe actions from parents!

The Old Ways (cont.)

Internet Safety

Dealing with Spam, Pornography and Annoying Pop-up Ads And Protecting Children from Predators and Other Online Dangers

In my last article I spoke about how it is often necessary to change our methods to fit modern times. One area of concern that is particular to our era is the use of the internet by our children. My ancestors had to protect their children from the perils of wild animal attacks and today we must protect our children from the dangers presented to them on the Internet. This article is aimed at helping your family deal with those perils and pitfalls of the Internet.

Internet Usage Can Be a Wonderful Thing!

Now, as many of you know, our Parenting with Dignity Foundation has embraced the Internet as one of our primary means of reaching and communicating with our constituents about our curriculum. You are reading our use of one of our “internet tools” that does wonderful things to help many families.

Oh, if it Were Just That Simple!

If only "good Stuff" was on the internet! But it is NOT just good stuff! As a matter of fact, what might be good to me might be bad to lots of others. Sorting out what you feel is "good" from what you feel is "bad" on the Internet is NOT at all simple for parents raising children in today’s world. Believe me, I have the utmost respect for all the positive aspects of the Internet. But, unfortunately, with all its’ positive potential and significant positive applications, the Internet can be a very dangerous place for youngsters - and an aggravating experience for many of the rest of us.

Common Problems

Ask anyone what bothers them the most about using the “Net” and someplace in their answer, you'll usually hear about frustrations with spam, chat rooms, sites like “My Space”, unsolicited pornography and pop-up ads. As parents, we MUST HAVE serious concerns about the problems surrounding "chat rooms", online predators, violent and hate mongering websites, and other Internet "attractions". I cannot hope to solve all of these issues in this article, but hopefully I can offer some suggestions that will help you gain some control of your family's “Internet experience”.

The Evolution of This Article

As a website owner whose email address is and has been available for all to access, I used to receive almost every spam e-mail that was sent every day! That “spam e-mail” used to be a terrible waste of our resources. I have received as many as 3,000+ unsolicited emails in one day! Sorting through that "pile of spam junkmail" used to sap hours from my days.

We Found a Solution!

After much research and trying countless different programs, we finally found something that really works. Knowing that you may have faced similar problems, I wanted to share this knowledge with you. Then it occurred to me that it would be helpful to also discuss some internet issues other than just spam with you. A little over a year ago, I asked our "resident geek" Tom Heatherington, our CEO, to compile some helpful information about Internet Management and Internet Safety. He did so magnificiently and you may benefit from his extensive work!

Warning Signs is a Website for Help!

He created an entire website that is attached to our Parenting with Dignity website that is called Warning Signs. You need to check this out! It is loaded with lots of direct help and hundreds of links to other sites that can offer even more help. Bookmark this link to Warning Signs!

Friends, take heart, there are things you can do to make the Internet less annoying for you and much, much safer for your children. You really can block unwanted spam and get rid of pop-ups. If you will just follow these links you will find some help:

Spam Blockers
SpamArrest (Gets our vote as the best spam blocker!)
Chat Rooms
Internet Addiction
Internet Safety Resources (This might be the “best ever” compilation of Family Internet Safety Tools!)
Internet Predators
Blocking Porn
Spyware
"Phishing" and "Pharming"

Pop-Up Ads

The Best Filter of Them All

Let me close by just saying that I believe that the best filter for protecting your children from the dangers of the internet lie in the ideas in their heads! That being said, it does not hurt to have some filters in place on your computer too.

Please guard yourself against the fallacy of thinking that this technology discussed in this article will be the only protection you family will ever need. Without a doubt, the best internet filter ever designed is the Idea: "I just do not go to those kinds of sites and I do not allow myself to read or look at any of that stuff!" Place that idea in the head of your children and the internet becomes a wonderful and helpful resource for your family.