Council
on Sex Offender Treatment
Treatment of Sex Offenders - Safety Tips
- Think safety first.
- Be informed and know your local resources.
- Be active in your community. Get to know your neighbors.
- Never assume your child could not be molested, missing, or abducted.
- Build your child’s self-esteem. A child who has low self-esteem
is more easily lured.
- Teach and practice decision making with your child.
- Build support systems. Children need to know where to go for help.
- Carefully interview, screen, and background check all caregivers.
- Teach age appropriate information regarding physical and sexual
abuse.
- Use age appropriate role-playing with children. Play “what if” games.
- Develop a family code for emergency situations.
- Respect a child’s “no”. Do not force a child to hug or shake hands.
- Never leave young children unattended for any reason.
- Establish ground rules for your child when answering the telephone.
Teach your child to screen calls through the answering machine.
- Teach and have emergency contact numbers easily accessible.
- Teach your child how to make long distant phone calls.
- Teach your child to screen telephone calls through the answering
machine or caller ID.
- Monitor all computer use. Use parental controls.
- Teach your child their full name, address, and telephone number
including area code. Practice calling long distance.
- Teach your child your full name (parent or guardian).
- Learn how to access registered sex offender information of the Department
of Public Safety website.
- Teach your child when it is okay to “make a scene” if someone tries
to abduct them. Teach children to scream “you are not my mommy or
daddy!”
- Have your child’s picture taken at least four times per year.
- Keep your child’s records including fingerprints, footprints, dental/doctor
information, birthmarks, and birth certificates.
- Tell your child that you will never stop searching for them if they
were ever taken.
- Let kids be kids. Teach them safety but do not scare them
Last Updated July 6, 2005 |
