Better Safe Than Missing

I have never been an overly nervous parent. "Careful, you'll put your eye out"; or "don't run so fast, you'll fall and get hurt"; or "stay in the shallow end"; were not often heard from me. My youngest had to be frisked at pre-school after he got his brother's pocket knife out of the house and to The Learning Tree. Please! I don't think 4 year olds should carry weapons, but at our house, if there was a will there was a way. My children built, rode, shot, fished, skied, ran, swam, competed, explored,slid, hammered, and climbed. Wagner off-spring were as foot loose and fancy free as I could let them think they were, (while still keeping an eye and an ear on them). Their childhood was as open as their imaginations. They explored their world in a fearless pack with like- minded buddies. Consequently, they grew up unafraid and able to handle any situation.
I was never an alarmist and still tend to be pretty laid back about news stories and supposed dangers. One out of a million, yet terrifying stories are picked up by the news service, and parents all over the U.S. panic. It's not children abducted and sold to the white slave trade that concerns me. For me, it's more things like child abuse, poverty, poor education, lack of health care and the break-down of the family that keep me up at night.
BUT:
In light of the recent random abductions of young girls, it seemed our column might be a good forum to remind our young girls (and young men) about being alert and staying safe. Here are some tips from the web and from weekly magazines.


1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do :
The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!
2. If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM.
Toss it away from you.....chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won't see you, but everybody else will.
4. Do not get into a car and just sit. Balance your checkbook somewhere else.

The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go.
AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR , LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE.

If someone is in the car with a gun to your head DO NOT DRIVE OFF, repeat: DO NOT DRIVE OFF! Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car. Your Air Bag will save you and the horn will automatically start sounding off. if the person is in the back seat they will get the worst of it As soon as the car crashes bail out and run.
5. Getting into your car in a parking lot:
A.Be aware: Look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor,
and in the back seat.
B. If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door . Victims are pulled into vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.
C. Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out. Even simpler, just be sure someone else is around you before you get into the car.
IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY.

6. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control,
ALWAYS RUN!
The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times;
And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN, Preferably in a zig -zag pattern!

7. Women are very sympathetic: STOP !
Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, and often asked "for help" into his vehicle, which is when he abducted his victim. If you think someone really needs help, find other people to offer assistance.


Our kids don't need to be terrified, but certainly they should be educated. Just like knowing CPR, they should all know how to protect themselves. I guess we all should............... Sigh.