"Safe Word"

The one simple word that could protect your child from danger. Child abduction – two words that strike fear into the heart of every parent. Sadly, not only is child abduction a common occurrence, frighteningly, it’s also on the rise with a staggering 2,185 children going missing every single day.

One safety tool that many child safety experts and advocates suggest is a family safety code word. This is a word that is only known by the child and parents, and it can be used in several ways:

1. Parents who need to send another adult to pick up their child for some reason, maybe an emergency situation, can tell that adult the safety code word. Children are told that they should never go with an adult, either stranger or someone they know, unless that person knows the safety code word.

2. Families can use the safety code word as a signal of danger. If a child is somewhere, maybe home with a babysitter or at a friend's house, the child can use the word in a sentence over the phone with the parents to let them know that she needs them to come right away because there is danger. An example of this would be "Hi, Miss Babysitter, we just called to say good night to little Susie, could you put her on the phone?" and when Susie gets on the phone she could say, "We're having a lot of fun, Mommy, but would you take me out for a banana split tomorrow?" If the safety code word is banana split, then mom knows that there is a situation that requires her to come home immediately.

3. The danger signal can also be used if the family is out together, make a plan of what to do if the word is used. For example, if the family is walking in a dangerous part of town and someone ominous approaches them, Dad could say the safety code word and Mom and kids know that they need to immediately run in the opposite direction and get help.

https://www.revvedupkids.org/blog/safety-code-words
https://www.mamamia.com.au/safe-word-for-kids/
https://www.newyorkfamily.com/family-safe-words-and-their-importance/

Please research this subject extensively. Stats are subject to change on a daily basis. Remember, it is not the odds, but the stakes.