Published: May 09, 2008 07:37 pm            

Sheriff urges parents to ‘Take 25’ for children safety

By Leia Jobe

reporter2@trcle.com



Johnson County law enforcement officials are gearing up for National Missing Children’s Day on May 25 by promoting a campaign to encourage family dialogue about child safety, Sheriff Bob Alford said.

President Ronald Reagan established Take 25, a national campaign, in 1983 to promote safety through family communication.

“The idea is to take 25 minutes to sit down with your child and explain to them the dangers out there and how to be prepared for them,” Alford said. “You never know, one thing you say may prevent danger later by giving your child a plan of action if someone ever tries to hurt or exploit them.”

According to a 1999 study by the U.S. Department of Justice, 2,200 children are reported missing every day in the U.S.

Take 25 suggests parents talk with their children about safety, strangers, emergencies, appropriate behavior, peer pressure, Internet safety and self defense, according to a Take 25 press release.

Many Web sites offer helpful tips parents can use in their discussions.

Safety rules on www.kidpower.org recommend that children avoid giving out personal information to strangers in person or on the Internet.

Other safety Web sites, such as www.isafe.org and www.virtus.org, give parents and children safety tips for activities, sports, birthday parties and surfing the Internet.

For parents, one of the most common recommendations is to pay attention to a child’s activities.

Improving parent-child communication is one of the best ways to keep a family safe, Alford said, the idea behind the Take 25 campaign.

Opening a safety conversation with the child can be simple, Alford said.

“The first thing you should tell them is that you love them, trust them and believe in them,” he said. “And then you listen. The best speaker is a good listener. We need to get involved and find out what’s going on in their lives.”

Alford said parents should attend school functions and church with their children. Being involved in their children’s lives can help combat the effects of peer pressure.

“The peer pressure that the kids are facing these days is much more strong and influential than it was when I was growing up,” Alford said.

Developments in technology have increased pressure on children, he said.

“The video games that they play are literally desensitizing our kids and conditioning them to violence,” Alford said. “You need to know what they’re watching on television and what they’re doing on the computer. In my view, there’s no such thing as an off-limits room. You pay the rent and provide food and shelter, so you need to know what these kids are doing in the privacy of their rooms. Just being involved in their lives can help so much.”

Some local schools might host Take 25 events on May 25 for parents and students, Alford said.

“The most important thing is just taking the time to be them,” Alford said. “We’ve got to just stop and take the time to talk to our children because if we don’t, someone else is going to. And unfortunately that person might not be the kind of person we would want our children to be talking to.”

        

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