Safety for Children

In South Carolina, an amber alert will not be issued under certain circumstances. When authorities aren’t able to help, it becomes key for the parents and those involved to spread the word. According to WJBF.com, the following laws in South Carolina are in place:

An Amber Alert was not issued…because there were no eyewitnesses, and no description of a car or suspect.

When time is of the essence as it is in every child abduction case and there are no eyewitnesses to help the authorities, the internet becomes your best tool to act as quickly as possible.

A 3 year old boy was reported missing from a flea market in North Carolina earlier this week and an amber alert was issued. After two days of searching, the alert was canceled after the boy was reported found. Days worth of man power was used to search for the boy, who may have not ever been missing in the first place.

"And unfortunately, in situations like this, it makes the next one that comes along that much more difficult," said Chief Steve Gillikin. "I think it desensitizes the public to these situations (so) that when they see these in the future there’s more of an inclination not to pay that much attention to it," he added. "So, it hurts all around."

If services like InstantAmber allow authorities to better coordinate searches for missing children, precious time could be saved for all parties involved.

At what point should a child that is missing become an amber alert? When the news earlier this week that a reported amber alert of 3 year old Siraj Davenport turned out to be a hoax, it left law enforcement baffled as to how it happened and why so much time and man power was wasted.

"We would hope that a parent or a child giver would not lie to us, but they do on occasion. So we have to balance all that. It’s a balancing act," said Chief Evangelous.

Chief Evangelous went on to say that they must take all reports seriously. He says there are guidelines that have to be met for an amber alert to be issued, but at the end of the day it really comes down to trust with the parent.

Authorities in Paramus, New Jersey opened an Amber Alert kiosk at the Paramus Park Mall in a great step forward to getting a jump on any alerts that maybe be issued in the area. The kiosks are equipped with special printers that are able to print out Amber Alerts from the area as well as allow mall patrons to stop by and sign up for wireless Amber Alerts which are sent to their cell phones in the even an alert is issued.

"The immediacy of information will help immensely in the ongoing quest to keep our children safe," Bergen County Sheriff Leo. P McGuire said Thursday. "The more people we can distribute the information to, the more we can help them."

Wireless Amber Alerts are available to people that do not have children under 18 as a way to enable them to receive Amber Alerts of other missing children to their phones. Another option for parents to quickly get information out to law enforcement, in case a child goes missing, is InstantAmber.

Are you considering leaving your child home alone once they reach a certain age? Every parent contemplates this at some point, and the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children has put together a great list of things to consider before you make such a big step.

Before allowing your child to go home alone, you should…

• Determine if there are other community resources or organizations providing after-school care or support.
• Ask your child how he or she feels about being alone. Is your child afraid to be left alone, or does he or she have the maturity and initiative to want to assume that responsibility?
• Decide if you feel your child is able to follow directions and solve problems on his or her own.
• Determine how long your child will be alone, accessible you or another trusted adult will be in case of an emergency, and safe the neighborhood is by contacting your local law-enforcement agency and checking the incidence and types of crime in your neighborhood.
• Make sure you’ve set specific rules to be followed by your child while he or she is alone, and give your child specific instructions about how to reach you at all times. This should also include information about what to do if your child needs assistance and can’t reach you right away.
• Remember you’re in charge, even if it is from a distance.

The article goes on to give you tips about what your child should know when the time comes for them to be left on their own. It is a huge step in both of your lives, but one that can be handled easily with this great list of reminders.

Child seats can be a lot more complicated than they appear. Getting the right angle and tightness can mean the different between safety and major injury. It ends up that the position of the seat is also important. A recent study from the American Academy of Pediatrics shed light on some interesting statistics and recommendations for parents.

Child occupants aged 0-3 years seated in the center rear had a 43 percent lower injury risk compared with children in either of the rear passenger-side positions. Study authors offer updated evidence for the current recommendations that the center rear is the safest seat position for children restrained in a CRS, but they do not indicate that a child seated in an outboard position is a poor choice.

In the past, it was thought that having a child near the door was okay, but this recent study strongly suggests that you put your child in the center rear when possible.