Tips that could keep your child safe from kidnappers

Missing Child Kenya, a non-profit community initiative that boosts the search efforts for missing children through various initiatives, received three calls a day through their toll free number in 2020. Of the three, two cases ended up resolved while one was listed as still missing.

These statistics and recently publicised cases of missing children have highlighted the need for parents to take preventative steps to help ensure their child remains safe. We look at a few of them.

Keep talking to your children - teach them about the dangers about them without making them paranoid Help them memorise your full names, place of work, phone number and where they live Teach them about strangers - that they should be wary of people they don’t know Not all strangers are bad - some can be helpful like policemen, security guards, receptionists etc Still, only 25 percent of kidnappings are by strangers, most crimes against children are committed by people who are known or friendly to the child Be trustworthy to your child - let them know that they can tell you if someone or something is bothering them Create a plan of action - teach your child what to do or where they can go if they got lost or were taken from home or school. Speed and noise - if the attacker doesn’t have a weapon, the best reaction is to scream and try to escape