Glendale PD urges parents to discuss safety with kids
May 7, 2014, 3:31 PM | Updated: 3:32 pm
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Police took to the Glendale Foothills Library Wednesday to encourage parents to talk with their kids about safety as part of “Take 25,” a child safety campaign.
“Take 25 is about parents taking 25 minutes out of their day to talk to their children about safety,” said Glendale Police Detective Sgt. Mathew Beunler.
At Wednesday’s event, parents received tips on how to discuss safety issues with their kids, while children were fingerprinted and met McGruff the Crime Dog.
Beunler said that too often, parents leave it to police officers to teach their kids about safety. But police want to make sure that kids are comfortable with talking with their parents about safety concerns that may come up.
“Somebody is approaching them after school or they’re being messaged by somebody on the Internet,” he said. “We want the children to feel comfortable going to the parent and having those safety conversations with them.”
Take 25 is a national child safety public awareness campaign created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It takes place in May because May 25 is National Missing Children’s Day, which was first established by President Ronald Reagan in 1983.
The NCMEC said teaching children about safety saves lives. In 84 percent of cases, children use what they’ve been taught to escape potential abductions.
For more information, click here.
