Stranger Safety

The Arvada Police are currently investigating two reports of children being approached by a stranger who offered them candy and tried to get them into his car. Thankfully, in both cases, the kids knew enough to run away and tell an adult. Here is a letter sent out by the Jefferson County School District: 

September 14, 2012
This letter is to make you aware of recent incidents involving “stranger danger” in the Arvada area. 

Arvada Police received a report that a child was approached by a stranger offering candy, asking them to get into the stranger’s car in the Quaker Acres Park area.  A police report has been filed and they are investigating. There is an additional report of a child being approached by a stranger at Fitzmorris Elementary in Arvada after school.  Once again, police are investigating that incident. 

According to police, the suspect in both incidents is described as a white male, 20-40 years of age, brown hair, with no facial hair or glasses.  The vehicle used in the incidents is a royal blue four-door sedan. We want you to know that student safety is always our top priority and this event reminds us of the importance of talking with your student about stranger danger. 

Reinforce safe behaviors with your student and tell them to always be aware of their surroundings. If a stranger approaches your student, whether it is at school or outside of school, be sure that your student knows what to do: yell or shout, run away and immediately tell an adult.  Stress to your student the importance of going straight to school and coming home immediately after dismissal, or leaving the bus stop. 

Remind your student that if he/she sees anything suspicious around the neighborhood or school, they need to immediately contact the police department and notify the school. 

Together, we can help protect the safety of our children.

I think this is a fear that all parents have: how can we protect the safety of our children, even when we aren't with them? I know that headlines about missing children always strike fear and sadness in my heart.

A resource I have used with my oldest daughter is a video called "The Safe Side". It gives kids serious safety messages regarding strangers and "kinda-know" adults in a silly and not-scary way.  I appreciate that it does include the "kinda- know" adults since statistically, danger to children is greater from someone they or their family know than from a complete stranger.

This video can often be found at (or requested from) your local library. If you do check it out, watch it with your kids and pause it after each section - it is a great time to initiate the conversation in an easy way.

Another resource for us as parents is the article "What to Teach Kids About Strangers" by the National Crime Prevention Council. It includes topics such as "Who is a Stranger?", "Who are Safe Strangers?", Recognizing and Handling Dangerous Situations", and "What Else Parents Can Do".