Our Children

You know the saying " It takes a village to raise a child". In a sense this is true. 
When it comes to our children here in the U.S there seems to be a lot missing daily at an alarming rate.
So, what can we do as a village?

School has started and I started thinking how sad it is, that we can't feel as safe as we use to , when I or even my kids were in school..Bombings, Killings, Threats, Kidnappings

There are Tv Ads now that teach you to "teach" your children. We all need to pay heed.
Whether we have kids or grand kids, we need to teach them at a very early age what to watch out for.
Tell them that no matter WHAT, if a stranger comes up to them, to even ask if they can help find their "Lost Puppy" Don't do it. This is one  ploy that seems to work with children. 

Tell your kids, if someone other than your parents come to school to take you away. Don't Go, unless your parents has told you before hand.
Parents need to make sure when their children start school, that a list is made to take of who is allowed to get their children from school. If someone comes to the school, and they aren't on that list.. Don't let that child go. It's better to be a little inconvenienced, and to be safe than sorry.
 My husband is a "Forensic CSI and Latent Fingerprint Examiner, and he feels every child should be fingerprinted.
The first 24-48 hours are the most critical to find a missing child
                                  
                                                         

My kids are grown now, but I have a daughter that is living alone in Oregon. 
Even grown you need to be aware at all times of your surroundings, especially when out in a park or even shopping. I think it would be great if all teenagers would take a class of "self defense"

I feel fairly safe where I live now, but If I go out walking by myself in a park, I am always looking to see who is around.

When we go out in public we can also pay attention to the kids and who they are with. Does any of them look frightened, does something seem to be out of place with the person they are with?
There was a report on TV about some of our kids in the malls being taken into the bathroom and raped. That is SO scary! Here we all are in a mall full of people and not one of us notices?

                                               

We need to always always watch what our children are doing on the internet. Predators are always there looking for an unsupervised child or teenager.
Some of our teen age girls are being abducted and sold out for prostitution. Seem too far fetched? Well, it's not! I actually know someone that happened to. Thankfully she finally escaped with her life intact.
We need to warn our dating teenagers about being aware at parties. Drugs are slipped to them when they least expect it. I have two women in my family this happened to when they were dating. One was raped, and the other one, it did something permanently to her mental state.

                                                        

The world can be a scary place. Please, let's do what we can to help our children, grand children, friends children, or even neighborhood children. We can "Warn" them of the possible dangers.
We don't want them to be frightened all the time, but we DO want them to be aware.

You can look online and find a sexual predator by going to your state's "Sexual Offender Registry". 
It will show you where they live. You can even type in your address, and it will tell you if there is one living close to you. I did this, and I was shocked to find there were two, just living down the street from me!

                                                                            

                                                                        
Here are a few sites you can read about and they also offer help to parents of missing children.


Missing Child Clearinghouses http://www.missingkids.com/Clearinghouses

Missing child clearinghouses are organizations providing resources for missing children, their families and the professionals who serve them. Each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada and the Netherlands have a missing child clearinghouse.

Stay Informed About Missing Kids in Your Area Remind Kids Remind Schools -Stay Aware Of Kids Around You-
http://www.missingkids.com/Take25

Take 25
Take 25® is a national child safety campaign of the National Center for Missing Exploited Children encouraging families to take 25 minutes to talk to their children about safety and abduction prevention. The goal of Take 25 is to heighten awareness about child safety issues.

Take 25 was created in commemoration of Missing Children's Day, observed each year on May 25. National Missing Children's Day serves as a reminder to make child safety a national priority.
Take 25 provides free safety resources to help keep children safer including safety tips, conversation starters and event planning guides.
http://www.missingkids.com/CASE
Campaign Against Sexual Exploitation

The Campaign Against Sexual Exploitation is a campaign of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® that strives to raise awareness about the complex issue of child sexual exploitation and educate communities across the U.S. about how to recognize and report child victimization.

http://www.missingkids.com/PictureThemHome

Picture Them Home® is the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children®'s ongoing campaign to raise awareness about the power of photos and their importance in the search for missing children. Because photos have such a vital role in the search for missing children, it is NCMEC's goal to distribute posters to as broad an audience as possible.
The familiar saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" is proven true time and again by the return of missing children who have been identified through this campaign.


     The pictures I put up are just a few of the missing children here in the U.S

      When it come to protecting "Our Kids" let's be that village.

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