Yesterday we had a scare that was thankfully brief - my almost-2-year-old climbed out of her stroller while we were at a community barbeque. We were involved in getting carnival prizes for my son and she had already run off when we noticed (it was probably only a few seconds that we turned away, but she's fast!)
Thank G-d we located her immediately, and we were on a campus that was not bordering a street. It was also an environment where I would generally feel the kids were safe. However, it was still very scary for a minute - and obviously would have been even more so if it was at the mall or a larger public place.
Just this morning I read this article which criticizes the less-concerned attitude that many people have when we get used to being in our enclosed neighborhoods. I know we had a possible kidnapping attempt in our own community last year - a little girl from my son's class was in the yard with her brothers and father. The father stepped around the side of the house for one minute and a car pulled up. Luckily the father ran right back and the car drove off, but the school let us all know to be careful. They also sent a warning to lock our doors (it is Midwest mentality not to be so careful about that) after several early morning break-ins.
Some of the comments on the article misunderstood the author's point and thought she was saying to never leave your kid with a baby-sitter. Obviously, if there is another trusted adult or program supervising, that is not a problem. But we need to make sure to check out the school or camp to make sure we trust the safety standards used. I know I feel very confident in our school, based on how many seemingly trivial things they have notified us about (like when my son got a tiny cut one time), and the fact that the principal frequently sends out public service announcements about safety issues. (And, of course, the fact that they are accredited by the state.) On the other hand, we have a teenage babysitter whom we love dearly but I would not send her to an activity alone with both of my kids at the same time, as I do not feel that is adequate supervision in a public place. In fact, even I try to avoid going somewhere alone with both of them!
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3 comments:
SephardiLady, hope you see this. I was thinking this amy be a good "Parenting Crisis" topic for your blog. Apparently this article was prompted by a recent event in which a child was playing unsupervised in Boro Park and was kidnapped.
Noted. I'm headed to bed after a long day, but will return.
Keep up the good work.
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