Summer safety for children - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

It is the season of church festivals and soon, county fairs. Before you plan any family outing or vacation, there are things you and your children should know to maintain their personal safety.

Church festivals are usually great sources of summer entertainment for the family. But not everyone who attends is from your church, or someone you know. So it's a good time to talk with your children, whatever their age, about safety and security.

A miscommunication was the reason for a nine-year old's "disappearance" last year during a church festival on the south side. Her parents had called police when they couldn't locate her. A search began with Indianapolis Metro Police seeking out the public's help.  It turned out the girl was at a friend's house.  But imagine the horror those parents felt in the hours before she was located.
    
Experts say you should make expectations clear about who your children spend time with, and where.

"They need to be very careful of their surroundings," explained Tom Docherty of the McGruff Safe Kids of Indiana program. "Be careful of who they are with and who they talk to and, most important, not go with people they don't know and parents don't know."

For younger kids, you may want to consider an identification program, like the one McGruff Safe Kids offers to schools. Kids get fingerprinted, and you can collect a sample of DNA. They have photos taken, then you keep that information with you in case your child goes missing for any reason.

The upside is most children who go "missing" make their way back home. Having a conversation and taking some preventive steps may also give you peace of mind as a parent, and give children the skills to protect themselves.

The McGruff program visits schools like Kindercare, and talks with students about how to protect themselves.

"We teach kids what to recognize in a stranger, good and bad.  What do if they get lost. Forced to do something they don't want to do," said Docherty.

Some if this is accomplished by playing the "what if" game with kids, so they visualize potential situations. Children are encouraged to know parents names, addresses, and phone numbers.

Children are also encouraged to use the buddy system so they are never alone and more vulnerable.

These are questions and tactics that should continue even as your children reach middle school age.