Teaching your child how to react in a crisis

Clive Humphrey, managing director of ADT Central says in recent months ADT has recorded several incidents of strangers approaching children or domestic workers in the streets asking to use their cell phones and then driving off with the phone.

He offers the following tips for children in the event of being confronted by criminals:

•   Don’t antagonise the assailant who is probably as scared as you are. You need to show then that you are not a threat. Unless your child feels they are facing an imminent life-and-death situation, they should not fight back and readily give over any material possessions.
• They should never try and engage in conversation. They should speak only if spoken to and then try to keep their answers short and to the point.
•  Encourage your children to try and get a good look at the assailant and memorise their physical details and clothing as well as the vehicle they are in. Listen for any names or other details that might help identify them later.
• Remind your children to try and remain calm and quiet if not threatened so the assailant can get what he or she wants and move off.
•  Always walk to and from school with a friend or friends. They should also stick to streets they know and never take short cuts through quiet areas or empty parking lots and never walk with cellphones and iPads in full view.
•  If they get picked up at school, they should never leave the premises but always wait inside school grounds for their lift to arrive.
•  They must never get into a stranger’s car, even if the stranger claims that someone they love is hurt and they have been sent to pick them up. Remind them that you would never send someone they don’t know to fetch them.
•  If a stranger approaches them, they should not talk to them no matter how friendly they may seem. If someone tries to grab them, they need to fight, kick and shout out that the person is not their mom or dad.

*Prepared on behalf of ADT by Cathy Findley Public Relations.