• Safety Tips:
• School Safety: FBI Profiling
• Personal Safety: Holiday Refresher
• Questions & Answer : Shopping Mall Fears and Safety
• Statistics: Non- Custodial Abductions vs. Stranger Snatchings
• One opinion, open for discussion: Connecting Violent Tantrums to Food Dye Links

Fingerprint America is committed to providing tools for parents and community leaders to educate and protect our young. From our growing line of nationally acclaimed Child Safety Products to our online clearinghouse of safety information and links to helpful sites, we are dedicated to building strong, secure communities for the future.

If you have a question about protecting our children, send it and we’ll research an answer for you. Each month we will post as many responses to your questions as we can. Also, watch our opinion column, designed to help us all keep questioning ourselves as we work to learn all we can to keep our kids safe.

School Safety Tip:

After checking the basic security of a school building, very few schools are willing to install metal detectors due to concerns that they will create a fortress-like atmosphere. It is important to make the atmosphere of the school environment safe and conducive to learning. Due to high-profile situations, such as the Columbine High School tragedy, teachers are wondering just how seriously to take a student’s violent comments. 

As the FBI gets more deeply involved in assessing students who may have violent tendencies, concern is growing regarding this "profiling" of students. For an interesting summary of school safety concerns, particularly those involving student profiling, visit http://eric.uoregon.edu/trends_issues/safety/index.html

Personal Safety Tip:

Because it is such an important tip, we are once again this holiday season reminding all our readers to respect a child’s need for personal space. That means if a child doesn’t wish to sit on Santa’s lap, he or she has the right to say no and just stand nearby to talk to Santa.

More importantly, it also means that he or she is given permission not to have to kiss or hug any relative or friend if he or she does not wish to do so. "He is just going through a phase right now, but he will probably want to give you a hug later" can be the explanation offered to the relative. Given the time to warm up in a loving environment, most children will offer affection to their relatives, but it should not be forced.

It is important that young children be empowered to say "no" to any unwanted physical contact. It is good practice, should they ever need to say no for personal safety. If you insist they must kiss or hug someone to be a "good girl" or a "good boy" then your message they about how to say "NO!" for safety is diluted.

E-Mail Questions From Readers and Our Answers:

Q: I am a single parent, and it is often difficult for me to hire a babysitter. I will have to take my children to the crowded mall this holiday season to shop with me, and I am terrified that they may get lost, or worse, kidnapped. What do you recommend? 

A: You seem aware that young children can get lost quickly while shopping, sometimes just because they are playing while you are looking to buy something. In Jan Wagner’s book, "Raising Safe Kids in an Unsafe World," she suggests that you be creative by tying special balloons on your children’s wrists to help you spot them more easily, and dress them in bright clothes. Before entering the mall, explain that if they get separated from you then they should stay still, and not wander. You should carry a current photo or Child Identification Kit of your children so you won’t have to describe your child as "three feet tall, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt," like thousands of other children in the mall. Don’t hesitate to ask store personnel for assistance, immediately, and don’t panic. 

While we are not so naïve as to say it could not happen, we want to assure you that it is highly unlikely that your children will be kidnapped while you shop. The following statistics reflect that there is a much greater risk that a non-custodial relative would abduct a child than a stranger. 

Statistics:

There are 355,000 reported family abductions annually. There are 3,500 - 4,000 reported abductions by a non-family member who is familiar with the child. There are estimated to be 350 - 400 stranger abductions annually.

Open to Discussion – One Opinion:

For some families, candy canes will wreak havoc on their holidays. Those innocent-looking candy canes, striped with Red Dye #40, could be causing explosive behavior in some children. It is not an allergic reaction, but a chemical reaction.

This artificial ingredient may be causing unexplained tantrums and angry outbursts, or simply "wild, hyper" behaviors. If these behaviors are seen repeatedly and consistently after eating this artificial color consider that it could be caused by this chemical reaction. Then, avoid this additive for a few weeks and see if the behavior diminishes, and then test for the reaction by offering something with Red Dye #40 again to see if the behavior returns.

While it is commonly accepted that the flavor additive MSG has ill effects on some people who ingest it, not all doctors accept the artificial color connection. Avoiding Red Dye #40 cannot harm a child, and may help. Helping children to manage difficult behaviors and impulses can mean exploring unconventional avenues. It makes you wonder just how much trouble in the world could be avoided if we better understood the chemical reactions taking place inside of us. As responsible parents, interested educators, and law enforcers, sometimes we have to be willing to look beyond conventional explanations to help our children better manage their behaviors.

THE STAFF OF FINGERPRINT AMERICA WISHES YOU AND YOUR FAMILY A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON!

Learn more by visiting Dr. Jim Hopper's site at http://www.jimhopper.com/abstats/ and the Pandora's Box site that has much information on the topic of sex abuse at http://www.prevent-abuse-now.com/sitemap.htm.

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