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Schools

Stranger Danger

A little girl fights off a would-be kidnapper in a Georgia Walmart.

 

Just last week, 7-year-old Brittney Baxter wandered into the toy department of a Breman, Georgia, Walmart alone while her mother grocery shopped a few aisles over. Suddenly, a man tried to start a conversation with her, snatched her up, covered her mouth, and attempted to run away with her.

Brittney fought off the would-be abductor by kicking and screaming until she broke loose and he fled the scene. Thomas Andrew Woods of Austell was arrested by police later that afternoon after they identified him in surveillance footage of the incident. He was tracked down at his home just a few miles away. Woods was on probation after serving prison time for voluntary manslaughter.

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According to an 11 Alive report, just last month, the counselor at Brittany's school, Tallapoosa Primary,  talked to her and her classmates about what to do if approached by a stranger. Even before that, her family also talked to her about how to avoid being abducted. Those talks intensified when 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera was kidnapped and murdered in Cherokee County.

Although Brittney's story had a happy ending, it seems like every day there are new reports of crimes against children. It's a big bad world out there and it seems even scarier when it happens so close to home. That's why I think it's important that parents talk to their children about how to react if they are abducted.

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Just the other day, my seven-year-old was trying to convince me that he was old enough to use the public men's restroom alone.  We've had the "Stranger Danger" talk with him several times and he's even watched The Safe Side video, a child saftey video produced by John Walsh, host of America’s Most Wanted and Julie Clark, the Creator of Baby Einstein.

We've role played different scenarios at the dinner table with a french fry and a green bean. There is no doubt in my mind that my child would know what to do if he were abducted. Yet, despite all the coaching we've given him, I still drag him into the ladies restroom with me when we are in public together. Much to his chagrin, I personally just don't feel comfortable letting him leave my sight just yet.

As a matter of fact, despite my self-proclamation of overcoming my ways and my feeble attempts to raise , I rarely let either of my children wander more than five feet in front of me at any given time while we are in public. I'm not sure if other parents out there are as protective as I am. According to my 7-year-old; "All my other friends get to look at the toys alone!" 

I can't help but think of little Brittney, whose mom was just a few yards away from her when she was almost adbucted. We can prepare our children the best that we can to get by in this world without frightening them too much, but we can't control the crazy people out there who want to harm them.

I showed my son the short surveillance footage of the incident to see how he would react. With eyes as big as saucers he started to do karate kicks and flex his muscles as if he could take out any bad guys if he needed to. Despite his pretend ninja skills, I'm still going to keep him close by. I refuse to be paralyzed in fear, but I also refuse to leave my children in harm's way, no matter how hard they can kick or how loud they can scream.

Do you talk to your children about Stranger Danger? Do you let them walk around a store alone? Would you show them the video footage to teach them what to do if they were abducted? Please leave your opinion and expereinces in the comments.

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