Tips for keeping track of children in the parks?

[Amy&Dan]

We have gone camping with our kids since they were babies. The one thing we've always taught them if they become separated from us in the woods is to "hug a tree", which means that they are to STAY PUT. That way we can trace our own steps back and have a better chance of finding them, as they won't be wandering aimlessly trying to find us and becoming more lost.

At DLR, this same rule of remaining in place applies, with the addition that they can ask a mom with kids passing by to get a CM to help, and they can ONLY go with a CM to be taken to the lost child area.

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Very good advice and what I did when my kids were younger. I always stressed that the second they realized they were separated from us, to stop right there and then. And to look for a cm or a mom right near there to go up to. We did get separated from my 8 year old at Epcot once and she did stop. Dh and I immediately split up and I backtracked and he went forward in case she had gotten ahead of us. She didn't see a cm but she did see a mom with several kids and just as she was wondering maybe she should go tell the mommy she was lost, the lady came up and asked her if she was. She told my dd to wait there with her and they'd see if mom or dad came up and if we didn't her husband would go find a cm. I found her pretty quick but it was the longest three or four minutes of my life! Staying put was good advice, she admitted she was about to try to find on her own the ride we were heading to which could have just put her who knows where, it was our very first visit ever to Epcot, she had no idea which way to go!

When I worked at a daycare center, we always told the kids to stop and stay put if they got separated.

 

[Ariel224]

Gavin De Becker (an amazing safety expert) advises to have your kids find "a mommy" if they get lost because a huge majority of pedophiles are men rather than women. I've seen "CM name tags" for sale that anyone can personalize with their own name. Just because someone has a DL CM name tag doesn't mean that they really are a CM. It's just a thought...any savvy predator can get one of those official looking pins.

I always tell my kids to find a "mommy" for that very reason.

Jennifer, this is a great point, and one that has crossed my mind, but I haven't figured out how to reconcile it in my head without overcomplicating the plan of action so much that my kids would become so confused that they wouldn't know what to do.

If they find a mommy first, that mommy's response is not going to be a response that we can 100% prepare a child for. The mommy might take them to lost and found immediately, she might look for a cell number and call it and wait with the child, or she might immediately turn them over to a CM, who is a person who no longer meets the criteria of who the parents have told them it is okay to go with (if they are told ONLY to go with a mommy).

On the flip side.....If a legitimate CM is the first to notice the child, then they MAY wait with the child a few minutes to see if Mom/Dad shows up, or they may just take them immediately to the lost child area. DLR's official policy is that all lost children 9 and under are supposed to go to the lost child area. We do also know that at least one person has been told that CM's aren't supposed to use a cell phone to make contact.

It's pretty easy to prepare a child for whom they can approach for help, but it really becomes complicated in preparing them for whom they are allowed to go with, because DLR's policy dictates that at some point they will have to GO somewhere with someone they don't know. Above I listed 5 different scenarios, and I know even my 9yr old wouldn't be able to execute a different proper response for that many scenarios. A lot of kids might go with someone they aren't supposed to even if they know it's not the right "category" of person, because they're scared, and the person promises to help them. They rationalize it.

I thought my "only go with a CM" plan was good, but now I'm second guessing. Maybe only go with a female CM? Anyone else have any ideas on this?

 

[Ariel224]

I know this is way older than OP's kids, but I'll share a moment with a teen -- something that was theoretical but that totally startled me.

DS13 was in the room when I was having the "if you're lost" conversation with the younger kids. We told them everything PPers have said. DS13 piped up, "but if I'm lost, I should just go back to the hotel and wait for you there, right?" We were at the DLH, but it would still have involved leaving the park and a long walk through DTD to a room he didn't have a key to!! (and no cell then) I told him to never, ever, leave the park without us and that all the same rules applied to him (or me, for that matter).

It was a wake-up call to me: they don't age out of being lost. While he might not have gotten snatched like a younger child, his "plan" would have involved a lot more worry and taken much longer for us to find him!

PHXscuba

Last year when we went we focused heavily on preaching to the then 4 and 6 year olds. And guess what, our one lost child incident involved the then 8 year old. Thankfully, she stayed where she was and I found her in less than 2 minutes. But yeah, even when they're 16, they're getting a tutorial!

 

[jenpace]

If they find a mommy first, that mommy's response is not going to be a response that we can 100% prepare a child for. The mommy might take them to lost and found immediately, she might look for a cell number and call it and wait with the child, or she might immediately turn them over to a CM, who is a person who no longer meets the criteria of who the parents have told them it is okay to go with (if they are told ONLY to go with a mommy).

I have always told them the "go find a mommy" thing. In my mind, an adult "mommy" will better be able to judge a safe (and real) CM than a scared kid. It's just really important to me that they not go 1st to someone just because that person has an official looking name badge.

I agree that it's sometimes challenging to know what the best advice and safety rules to teach our kids.

 

[sierranevada]

All are great tips. When my son was young, I would get glow necklaces from our local party store and make sure we all wore them at night - it is so much easier to see them at night with them on. I tried to get an odd style at the store so it would not look like everyone else and did not use the DL ones since they are very common.

 

[Karenann*]

I'll be honest... We were just there with DS5 and DD2. DS got "the talk" every day before we left for the park. DD wore a leash. Before having children the though of putting a leash on a child disgusted me!! Now that I am a parent, different story, lol. We bought a cute backpack style one that DD has really taken a shine to.... She named the stuff animal backpack "Leash the puppy" and now loves wearing it.

There are also what I called wrist rockets that look like a coiled phone cord. Parent wears one end on their wrist and the child wears the other. It gives you about 6 feet leeway before they reach the end of their freedom!

 

[jtown]

Totally off topic but, the subject line put a "Wild Kingdom" scene in my head. Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler chasing down kids down Main Street in a Jeep, tranquilizing them, attaching radio collars, and setting them loose. The kids get up, stagger around the plaza for a few minutes, then run off towards Toon Town while parents follow their progress using the radio trackers. "We'll wait over here while Jim releases the child. They can be very dangerous when they're disoriented."

As far as losing older kids goes, that happened to my friends and me well into our 30s. Cell phones are the only reason we don't lose each other any more.

A good way to tell kids how to find a genuine CM might be to tell them to go to a store/restaurant/etc. and talk to the person at the cash register. There's hardly an inch of the park where they wouldn't have line-off-sight visual of a cash register and, if they're able to recognize that scenario (a line of people handing money to someone behind a counter), they're guaranteed to be approaching a CM.

Someone carrying a broom/scooper combo is a pretty safe bet, as are the security personnel who stand out in the white shirt and belt-o-gadgets.

Or course, that's for kids who are old enough to make (and remember) such distinctions.

Has anyone mentioned tracking devices yet? There are devices starting at $50 or so all the way up to multi-hundreds of dollars plus subscription services for tracking kids. At the lower end are devices that operate like the Wild Kingdom radio collars, giving a direction and rough estimate of distance. At the top end are GPS devices that report exact location updated anywhere from every few minutes to near real time.

 

[jenpace]

Totally off topic but, the subject line put a "Wild Kingdom" scene in my head. Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler chasing down kids down Main Street in a Jeep, tranquilizing them, attaching radio collars, and setting them loose. The kids get up, stagger around the plaza for a few minutes, then run off towards Toon Town while parents follow their progress using the radio trackers. "We'll wait over here while Jim releases the child. They can be very dangerous when they're disoriented."

So I'm guessing/hoping you don't have kids of your own which is why you'd think the whole thing is so funny.