Does Your Child Walk From School Alone?

Unfortunately, everyday thousands of children have to walk home from school alone.  Parents are not always able to pick their child up from school or the child has to walk a good distance from a bus stop.  No matter what the circumstance is that causes your child to have to walk alone, please teach them the following steps to stay safe on their journey:

• First, your child should try to make friends with another child or group of children that are walking the same route.  Teach them that there is safety in numbers.  This rule applies whether they are going to the restroom at school, walking home, going to the mall, etc.
• Check with a neighbor and see if they are available to pick your child up or at least check in with your child when they get home.
• Remind your children that adults should never ask them for help.  They are a child.  Adults should always ask other adults for help, so tell your child to not feel guilty about walking away from an adult.
• Tell your child if they are ever approached by someone they don't know (please don't say stranger*), they should remember the 3 B's.

• Get Back - As the person approaches them, the child should take 4 big steps backward.  If the adult continues toward the child after they have stepped back, the child should hold up their hand and loudly state, "Stay Back!"

• Run Back -  If that doesn't stop the forward progress of the adult, at this point the child should run as fast as they can to a safe place (back to school, a neighbor's house, library, neighborhood store, etc).  As they are running they should scream, "Kidnapper! Call the Police!" over and over as loud as they can.

• Fight Back -  If they are unable to run, or is the adult grabs them, this is when the child must fight back with everything they have.  You have to make your child understand that their life depends on this and they are to kick, scratch, scream, bite and do everything possible to get away. While they are fighting yell at the top of their lungs, "Kidnapper! Call the Police!"  This phrase is better to yell because it instantly garners any surrounding adults attention.

We mentioned earlier that you shouldn't tell your kids to never talk to strangers.  Why is this?  Most kids do not understand which adults should be 'classified' as strangers.  And if you ask a group of 50 young kids to describe what a stranger looks like, you will get a wide range of descriptive answers, but few will say it's someone they don't know.

Hopefully, your child will never have to experience a frightening experience like this, but you always want to prepare your child ahead of time for anything.  If you have discussed it and given them a plan of action, they are less likely to freeze and be a docile victim.

Remember - "If you fail to prepare them, Prepare to fail them!"

#safeandunafraid #mvacaunited