Stranger at schoo(long Vent)

[twinmomplus2new]

Some of you may have read a thread I posted on Saturday about My mom taking my son and not making sure I knew she had him. Well all I can say is THANK GOD... I had not been told this story before that icident.

Here goes. if you are in thh New England area you may have heard that In Falmouth Ma, there was an attempted abduction or (A reported attempted abuction) Of a high schooler by a man in a white car in the high school parking lot. in the early am. Supposedly same day same car, same mo. It was reported by yet another student same school.It was on the news for several days. this was about 10 days ago.

Ok where am I going with this>>I was told by another parent( And before Anyone says this...( I verified the story told to me by contacting school staff and point blank asking is this true.)
That last Thursday while our kids were out to recess, That a white car with a male in it was sitting on school property in a delivery area, while the kids were playing. A teacher noticed and was suspisous, called in on walkie talkies to staff and by the time police got there the car was gone no plate was gotten.
Later the same day, the same white car was spotted at the k-3 school, my sons is in the 3-6. This time parked on an access road behind the school. again he was noticed by a teachers aid, who radioed in to staff and she actually approached the car, the man got out and started to walk towards her, as he did her radio cackled back , not to approach Police were in route. And he heard and turned around and took off. he did not get caught.

Heres my issue Given what has happened a few towns over.. Why were us as parents not notified this has occurred? Why in gods name are these kids out to those play yards without a police presance? I am dumbfounded and more than a little miffed.

Today a full week later a note came home highligting Falmouths incidents, and asking us to be extra careful with our children, yet it does not inform parents of the incidents right here with our kids? I am very disallusioned with all of this. I understand it is a fine line between panic and action. But I firmly believe many parents will be more careful if they knew the whole story.

 

[kadaten]

I agree parents should be notified.

There were several attempted abductions at our local mall....a guy was trying to take kids from the play area while their parents were distracted. We found out from a note home from the preschool....who found out only because one of our parents happened to be there at the time! This has yet to make the news around here....and LOTS of parents let their kids play while the chat with their friends, half-distracted because they figure they're in a public place with tons of people around...who would try to take a kid? Well, he actually got a kid on one of the attempts and made it up the escalator before someone noticed the kid struggling and reached out to help the kid and the guy took off running.....parent was still at the bottom of the escalator in the play area....

I REALLY think things like this should be publicized so parents know there is someone actively trying to take children, especially when it's in a defined area (like this particular mall) or defined incident, like your man in a white car around the schools.

 

[ohanafamily]

It seems that the school has things under control. If the car came back, they can request a patrol officer. I would wonder if since the school has people watching for this type of thing if a Police presence is truly necessary; scaring parents seems all that would be accomplished by the letter you would like.

What I am saying is that the school seems to have a plan in place and are on a heightened security level. Is it necessary to have a policeman at every school? if so, how much will that cost? I know to you it is worth it; if one kid is kidnapped...etc.

I hope I have helped, but I answer alarm response for the company I work for, and I know how overworked the police are. Hopefully the person was scared off by the radio, and won't be back.

 

[ohanafamily]

PS, my response was specifically pointed at the school where there is security. Malls generally don't have watchful teachers.

[COLOR=CC0033]kadaten[/COLOR] is right, this stuff should be plastered all over everywhere and the school should have a parents day with a police officer to show them how bad it is...

 

[twinmomplus2new]

This is a very small town, we have 3 schools. 2 of them on the same property. I certainly am not advocating a full time officer at the school. I am concerned with the recess portion of the day. Which is when these incidents took place.

The parent that told me is working on closing the access roads to the schools. (that is the delivery access for the recess periods)
At the 3-6 he was actually in the delivery area as it is not restricted.
At the k-3, the principal over there is very, very strict, And she has already closed off her roads for the entire day. way before this incident. Thats probably why he was behind the school on the fire access road. The fact is, because she had already done that he was not directly accessable to the kids like he was at the 3-6.

I know there is no easy answer, But prevention is never to expensive.

 

[ohanafamily]

once again, the school can request a uniformed police officer...I think they may have to pay the city for it, but they have to request it. How to get them to request it is to call all of the parents and tell them. Also, I am sure that the police would love to send an officer to a special awareness PTA meeting (free) to talk to parents about shopping etc with the kids, and what is being done about this white car!!!

 

[disykat]

It sounds like they have recess covered fairly well, and I would guess that since the incidents were reported to the police that they will be monitoring more frequently as well. I do think parents should be notified that they are using extra diligence at recess and asked that all kids be escorted to and from school. It sounds like this happened. If every stranger at a school was reported to parents there would be letters going home every day - Many parents refuse to follow office sign in procedures because they feel their rights are being infringed upon.

I would be more concerned about before and after school when supervision is not present (like students walking home) than during recess.

 

[disneygals]

We had an incident at our elem school...a man actually came through the woods and grabbed a kid before he was scared off by a teacher's whistle. The principal sent out a letter immediately and there was a school meeting for the parents later (I didn't go so don't know what was discussed, but they haven't caught the guy).

Parents should always be notified.

 

[ohanafamily]

disneygals, in your case yes; there was an actual attempt. In the case of the OP, it is really up to the school; they have an obligation to make the school safe, and nothing more than a suspicious character being scared off. When an attempt has been made, everyone needs to be aware that there is someone in the area and it is a substantiated direct threat!!!

 

[ohanafamily]

I think I owe everyone in this thread an apology; I think the OP needed Pixie Dust and caring, which I offer in great abundance. I have been on the DB way too much, and was thinking that we were discussing the right and wrong of when to supply police.

PD, I hope that they catch the SOB!

 

[twinmomplus2new]

Thanks for saying that, you are exactly right this stuff is very scary to parents of young children, Any information we can arm ourselves with to keep them safe is always dearly appreciated.


The coming through the woods thing... that is exactly wht my fear is here. It only takes a second. And statistically we know it is not a good sign when someone is so desperate/deranged that they are watching kids at a school yard.


PS.. In todays news/// There is another report of same car description following a girl at a school bus stop again in Falmouth, This time in a white van VS car. unbelievable.