As soon as your children can understand what you are saying, you need to teach them about stranger danger. There are numerous kinds of strangers that your child will run into someday. If your child is aware of stranger danger, they may be able to protect themselves from falling victim of a pedophile or dangerous individuals. Children need to understand what to do when a stranger approaches them. Teach your children how to trust their instincts when it comes to stranger danger.

Sadly, many children are kidnapped by their own family members. The biological parents of the child may kidnap them in order to keep them away from the other parent or from the grandparents. Each day 2,185 children are reported missing. 203,900 children were victims of family abductions and 58,200 were victims of non-family abductions. The Department of Justice does not have positive statistics for children that were taken by a stereotypical kidnapper. Normally children that are kidnapped by someone outside the family who is a stereotypical kidnapper will kill or seriously harm the child within 24 hours of abduction. Even though there are success stories for kidnappings, they don't always have a happy ending.

Some children have been approached by strangers and used the tools their parents and teachers taught them about stranger danger and they may have saved their own lives. Older children are just as vulnerable to stranger danger as younger children. It is important to remind your children about stranger danger often and practice what to do in different situations. The Department of Justice informs parents they need to teach their children the following information about strangers:

• Never talk to a stranger
• Do not open the door if your parents are not home and only open it if your parents are in the same room
• Never leave your parents side when you are in public places or when you are outdoors
• If you are playing outside, make sure your parents are outside with you
• Do not help a stranger if they claim they have lost their dog or if they want to give you money, show you something, or give you candy
• Do not approach a stranger or their car, even if they do know your parents name and information
• Know your personal information, like your phone number and address
• Know how to call 911 in case they are taken and how to look for addresses and license plates that may help the police find where you are located

Teach your children about the people in your neighborhood that are safe. This way, if they get lost or they are approached by a stranger, they can walk up to the door of that house and go inside or walk up to that individual. Teach your children of other individuals that can help them if they are approached by a stranger or if they are lost. Some of those individuals include the following:

• Police officers and other safety personnel Teachers
• Postmen
• Store workers
• Receptionists or individuals working behind a desk

If your child knows what types of people to contact when they are lost, they will not panic. This will also help you find them if you lose track of them somewhere. As your child gets older, you need to share stories with them about children that were approached by strangers. Let them watch the evening news with you and explain the seriousness of strangers. If you have friends, family members, or neighbors that were victims of pedophiles or other strangers, tell your child about it. Children need to understand that this is real and that some strangers are not to be trusted. While you do not want to scare your child, it is still important to make this real to them.

Give your child a whistle or a cell phone if they are older. If they have to walk home from school or are alone in the home after school, you need to give them something to protect themselves. A whistle can alert other people that may be in the area and they can use their cell phone to call you or the police if they are in danger. If possible, try to form a group with other children's parents and have them pick up your child and keep them at their house until you get home. It is never smart to let your child walk home alone from school, as this is a prime time for dangerous strangers to approach them.

Teach your child what to do if a stranger tries to grab them. Show them how to fight and scream to get the attention of others and possibly wiggle out of the strangers grasp. Teach your child that they must do everything possible to avoid having that person force them into their car. Teach your child to bite, kick, scream, punch, and do anything to get away from the stranger. Even give your child some breath spray to use to spray into the eyes of the stranger. While it may not work as well as pepper spray, it will shock the stranger and may allow your child just enough time to get away from them. Make sure your child has access to warning devices and that they keep them on them at all times.

Talk to your child often about strangers and stress the importance of staying with a group of friends when they are outside. Several neighborhoods have neighborhood watch programs where the neighbors all keep an eye on the children that are outside playing. They will make sure the children are safe and are not approached by strangers. Talk to the parents of the children in the neighborhood and set up times for each of you to keep an eye on the children. You can exchange days to pick them up and drop them off to school or to have them come over to play at your home.

Some of the common places where strangers approach children include the following:

• Parks, playgrounds, malls, zoos, restaurants, swimming pools, and other public places
• Internet chat rooms
• Vacant roads and buildings
• On your property, like your backyard or the side of your home

Dangerous strangers can approach your child just about anywhere. Since you cannot be there to hold your child's hand every minute, you need to trust in your child's ability to remember what you have taught them. If your child likes to use the internet chat rooms, you need to set rules on them. Make sure they only use the chat rooms to talk to their family members or close friends. Tell them that they should never give out their personal information to anyone on the internet and that they are never to meet someone they met on the internet.

The best way to prevent your child from being taken or becoming a victim of a pedophile is to teach them about stranger danger often. Prevention and preparation are the keys to keeping your child safe. Make sure you establish rules in your home that are designed to keep your child safe. Some of the rules need to include the following:

• Never wandering off alone
• Never leaving home without permission
• Never talking to strangers
• Establishing a location to meet in case you get separated from one another

Some families use keywords to let their children know if a stranger is safe. They will use one word that only the children and the parents know and tell their children if they are sending someone to pick them up from school that they will need to use this keyword. This will help children understand if the stranger was sent by their parents. You should only use the keywords if it was an emergency.

If your child is home alone, tell them never to answer the phone or to answer the door. The best thing to do is to enroll your child in an after school program where they will be safe until you are able to pick them up. Creating a schedule with the parents of your child's friends is another way to avoid leaving your child home alone and being vulnerable to strangers. Teach them that they should never let a stranger in their home for any reason.

A simple way to teach your child about strangers is to get pictures of all your neighbors and have your child memorize them. This way they will know what adults in the neighborhood are safe and who to trust in case they are approached by a stranger. Use the pictures like flashcards and print off pictures of random people from the internet and mix them in. Then hold up the card to see if your child can identify a stranger from their neighbors and family members. Your child's safety should be one of your biggest concerns. Consider installing an alarm system in your home to protect your child if a stranger tries to break in the home. The police will come within a matter of seconds if the alarm is triggered.