Most adults today grew up with a single piece of sage advice: Don’t talk to strangers.
But according to Bill Belott, who talked to parents last month about a new program being run in the Bayonne school district, this advice is no longer enough.
“Years ago, we were taught not to talk to strangers,” said Assistant Schools Superintendent Robert Craig. “That’s not good enough for today’s world.”
Kids these days need new strategies to avoid becoming the victim of adductions, and through a program called “Escape School,” kids from kindergarten up learn a few basic principles for avoiding abduction, as well as what they can do if they are abducted.
The program, which features a video showing kids techniques they can use to avoid abduction, was designed by Dignity Memorial’s network of funeral, cremation and cemetery service providers.
Started in California, the national recognized program gives kids specific and effective way to counter potential adductors.
“Kids can’t fight adults,” Belott said. “Adults are bigger and they will win.”
Often called “Mr. Bill” by students, Belott said the program is designed to educate, not frighten, kids and it operates on three basic principles: no one loves or cares for a kid more than family members, strangers are defined by their actions and not what they look like, and kids must be smart and not scared.
“Bad people expect kids to be scared,” Belott said. “When you’re scared, you’re predictable and bad people rely on that.”
When dealing with a possible abduction, a kid has to do what the potential abductor does not expect, Belott said.
“A child has a split second to decide what to do, who he or she can trust, and then to do what is needed to get away,” he said.
Statistics issued by the U.S. Justice Department show a sharp increase in child abductions over the last decade. Nearly 60,000 kids are abducted in the United States each year. While many are the result of family custody disputes, thousands of these cases are non-family abductions, often involving sexual attacks.
Belott said abductors most often plan their crimes ahead of time, studying the habits of their victims.
“They know where your child goes and knows what your child will do,” Belott said. “Abductions can happen even in a crowded playground.”
Abductors rely on speed, hoping to snatch a child within 10 to 12 seconds.
By creating obstacles, the child can delay and often foil the abduction attempt. This could be something as simple as clinging to a bicycle or using a backpack to avoid being grabbed. In one technique called “the windmill,” the child rotates his or her arm to break the abductor’s grip, and then runs away.
Another technique, called “Velcro,” would have a kid seeking help from some third party by grabbing an arm and clinging, while yelling “I need help.”
If a car pulls up, a kid should not get into it, and if someone tries to grab the kid, the kid should flee in the opposite direction of traffic to make pursuit difficult.
Although the program is being run in each of the schools this fall, the Dignity Memorial Escape School Program is part of a home based instruction program, and parents are encouraged to get the tape for repeated showing so that their kids will instinctively know what to do.
“Parents should show this tape as often as possible,” Belott said.
Offered in an entertaining and non-threatening manner, the program teaches children how to differentiate between good and bad strangers, the common lures abductors use, how to “get away, right away” and how to find help when needed. In addition to teaching key concepts, presenters engage children in demonstrations featuring several simple, yet highly effective, techniques for escaping dangerous situations.
“A frightening fact for all parents is the newspaper headlines and on the evening news informing us of yet another child abduction either attempted or completed,” said Schools Superintendent Dr. Patricia McGeehan. “A parent’s worst nightmare is the fear that their child will become the next victim. The challenge facing all of us is how to protect our children. This is why the Bayonne Board of Education is providing both parents and children with the information needed to help anyone escape from a potential adduction or assault.”