Child Safety
Kidnapping Escape

Child Safety's worst threat is Kidnapping.

The rule of thumb for kids is: Take three giant steps backward and run as fast as you can in the opposite direction, and then immediately tell a parent or trusted adult what happened. ... Amy Vandegrift knows the child safety drill: If a stranger rides up in a car beckoning to her, she's to make a beeline in the opposite direction. "You scream and get your friends to call 911,'' says the 11-year-old. ... "Nothing takes the place of parental or trusted adult supervision and attention," says Nancy McBride, director of prevention education at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. "Obviously, that's true for younger children, but it's just as true for older children.... There's no book, no video, no gimmick you can buy that can take the place of that."
Excerpted from The Christian Science Monitor – 29 July 2002

Two men kidnapped 7-year-old Erica Pratt from a Philadelphia street in July 2002. They locked her in the basement of an abandoned house and made ransom demands of her family. ... Erica gnawed through the duct tape binding her, kicked through a door panel, broke an outside window to call for help, and was freed with the help of kids nearby.

Ten-year-old Rebecca Savarese, on her way to school one wintry morning in 1993, was walking on the sidewalk at a busy intersection in Pittsfield MA, when a man suddenly grabbed and pulled her toward his pickup truck parked at the curb. She yelled and spun away, leaving him holding her backpack as she ran to safety. He dropped it on the sidewalk and casually drove away. Only one passerby noticed the kidnapping attempt and wrote down the truck’s license plate number, leading to Louis Lent’s arrest at his home – with hidden cages built into the walls – a suspected murderer of dozens of children.

Rebecca was his only target who’d been taught child safety classes - to defy an adult and fight to escape. Child safety odds of survival are far better on the spot rather than at a secluded secondary crime scene that a kidnapper chooses to carry out his evil plans undeterred. As early as possible, through role-playing (and playing Hide & Seek), teach Child Safety to your children - how to escape from a kidnapper:

• Thrash, fight, bite, and scream, "Help! Police!" repeatedly, shed a jacket or backpack that is grabbed, drop any excess baggage slowing them down, escape to a populated area, and call the police. YELL! RUN! TELL! The kidnapper fears a public spectacle and may simply flee alone. Also, witnesses may intervene, or at least identify the kidnapper and/or vehicle.
• If there’s a gun, ignore it and run! A gun is used to scare – rarely if ever to shoot a child. (Besides, if he's willing to quickly kill a child on the spot, he'll slowly do worse harm at leisure before killing the child later at a secluded, secondary crime scene anyway.)
• Pull the pin on their personal noisemaker alarm. See below.
• Run in circles around an object such as a parked car.
• Get under a car (belly up) and hold onto the underside so he can’t drag them out. If he crawls under there after them, get out on the other side.
• Pull a fire alarm.

Help protect your child with:
• Child Alarms at www.guarddog.net alert you if your child wanders away beyond 30 feet. A variety of models are available. I highly recommend these if used with the utmost parental discretion.
• Alarms (a.k.a. noisemakers). An attacker won’t likely chase a noisy target. See www.guarddog.net.
• For complete child safety, follow the guidance thoughout Crime-Safety-Security.com, especially Home Security.

"It seems impossible to overstate the haunting videotape image of Carlie Brucia being led to her death," said child safety expert Bob Stuber. "The entire world, for the very first time, saw that type of crime happening." ... Stuber thinks children should still ride their bikes to the park, walk down the street and play outside with their friends until the streetlights come on. "What children need to learn," he said, "is how to recognize danger and how to respond. That's why we have to teach our kids child safety - here's what you do."
Excerpted from The Sarasota Herald-Tribune – 30 January 2005

Bob Stuber teaches child safety to kids to get away from an adult by “windmilling” their arm when it's grabbed – that is, suddenly swinging the whole, straight arm from the shoulder in a large circle to break his grip. Then the child should run screaming to another adult for help.

If snatched while on a bike: hang onto the bike with hands and legs intertwined around the bike to prevent being shoved into a car. Scream all the while.

CAUTION: These escape maneuvers may injure the child or others. The parents must assume all responsibility and decide if the benefit of child safety outweighs the risk. Practice these maneuvers in a parked vehicle with the motor turned off.

The main idea is to stop the kidnapper – the sooner the better – from driving the child to a secluded location. The child must disrupt the kidnapper’s ability to drive and/or cause the car to crash while it’s moving at a slow speed. This will attract the attention of other people and give the child a chance to flee. Then:

• Immediately, before he even begins to drive her away, she can thrust herself between the driver and steering wheel – hanging onto the steering wheel with all her might while blaring the horn. Do this as soon as possible – or whenever she gets the chance.
• Grab the ignition key to turn off the engine – causing the car to suddenly slow and the steering to freeze.
• Grab the steering wheel while he’s in mid-turn.
• Brace her back against the door and attack the kidnapper with the powerful Defensive Ground Kicks taught in Fighting Strategies. He won’t be able to drive while absorbing a rapid-fire barrage of such kicks.
• Jump out the door whenever the car is not moving.
• Scream “Help! Police!” whenever a window or door is opened.
• If she’s a back seat passenger, she may still be able to attack the driver by attacking his eyes or throat from behind at a critical time. At a very slow speed, cause the car to crash!

To enhance child safety, teach children Clinch Attacks at Fighting Strategies.

An intruder abducted a 9-year-old girl from her home. She kept her head as she talked to her abductor, telling him she was ailing. "It's as if she established some type of relationship with him so that he saw her as a person," Deputy Chief Rob Davis said. "To the extent that you can humanize yourself, you can create an opportunity to escape." The girl overheard the abductor talking about killing her. "She went crazy and thought, 'Oh, my God! I have to find a way out."
Excerpted from The Oakland Tribune (CA) – 08 June 2003

Find all of child safety here:
• Child Safety - Overview
• Child - Molester Safety: the subtle warning signs.
• Child Safeguarding from molesters, bullies, and more.
• Child - Internet Safety: the dangers & safeguards.
• Child - Outdoor Safety: staying out of harm’s way.
• Child - Kidnapping Escape from a monster. (YOU’RE NOW ON THIS PAGE)
• Recap: a summary of this section.
• Personal Security Products

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