Tips to keep kids safe at WDW.

[disnut8]

The code word/phrase should be something that you would assume NO ONE could just randomly come up with. It's like coming up with a password, you not supposed to use names or birthdays or things that would be obvious to anyone who knows the person and it must be known by the child in advance.

Exactly. It should be something that is meaningful to the child so they can remember it. Something unique for that child. Say you are going to Disney World and your child just finished a lesson in Sunday School about Ruth. Your code word could be Ruth. Or, you are going and your child just finish a lesson in school about Benedict Arnold. There's your code word.

If your child frequently uses a word every day (like cowabunga), I wouldn't use that as others would know it. Others could know their computer password. Others could know important dates and pets' names.

Our password in our family, and just our family, is something no one would ever know and we've used it for years and had to explain it to the new members of our family since they had no idea what it was in reference to because the thing we are talking about no longer exists.

 

[Bluegrrl]

Since a PP mentioned this, I'd recommend getting ISR lessons for pool safety. Now, while Disney has great lifeguards, and I have never heard of anyone drowning, it's still a good idea to get lessons (Infant Swim Rescue). My 2/3yr old is taking them and starting to swim like a pro. They don't learn strokes, but they do learn how to "swim, float, swim" until they can get out of the pool safely. Since we have a 11ft deep pool, and DS likes pools and running into them, it helps my mind knowing that he is much safer around water.

 

[profdsny]

I know the government numbers say that things are safer...................looking around..............I plainly do not believe the government numbers.


AKK

It's not just 'government" numbers. Those statistics are everywhere from any organization that keeps track of such things. Almost no one has first hand knowledge of a particular case, or know someone personally who has had their child taken by strangers. We all read or see stories on TV, but the fact that they are so rare is what makes them news.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

It's not just 'government" numbers. Those statistics are everywhere from any organization that keeps track of such things. Almost no one has first hand knowledge of a particular case, or know someone personally who has had their child taken by strangers. We all read or see stories on TV, but the fact that they are so rare is what makes them news.

I am not talking about just abductions.........I am talking about crime in general and crimes against children, a home, schools and public.

Sorry All you have to be is watch the local news each evening and you will KNOW of someone's child that was hurt, or attacked or what ever. It not as rare s you think in fact its pretty common.

AKK

 

[Gracie09]

I am not talking about just abductions.........I am talking about crime in general and crimes against children, a home, schools and public.

Sorry All you have to be is watch the local news each evening and you will KNOW of someone's child that was hurt, or attacked or what ever. It not as rare s you think in fact its pretty common.

AKK

And the vast majority of the time the perpetrator of the crime is someone close to or related to the child, not a random person on the street.

 

[profdsny]

I am not talking about just abductions.........I am talking about crime in general and crimes against children, a home, schools and public.

Sorry All you have to be is watch the local news each evening and you will KNOW of someone's child that was hurt, or attacked or what ever. It not as rare s you think in fact its pretty common.

AKK

Hi, again, statistics say differently But we all know is that it is 'reported' in the media more often. When I was growing up, there were 3 news stations on TV. Now they are probably in the 20s.

DisneyWorld could be the safest place in the world for kids, and still, teaching kids to be aware is always a good idea. However, I think a lot of people here have seen kids being physically, or verbally, abused by parents at WDW, by being slapped, spanked, etc. because the kids, and the parents are having meltdowns. Those incidents anywhere would have been overlooked 20 or 30 years ago. Now they are reported. That doesn't mean there are more of them, just that they are noted more frequently.

 

[larryz]

I'd recommend getting ISR lessons for pool safety. Now, while Disney has great lifeguards, and I have never heard of anyone drowning, it's still a good idea to get lessons (Infant Swim Rescue).

Thanks for spelling that out. Where I live, "ISR" means "intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance."

 

[Sleepy425]

I worked in the Magic Kingdom. When kids are lost and literally so upset they can't even speak, they forget everything. You really can't "train" them to be able to recall information in such a stressful situation. So while I am sure every child I asked knew mommy's name, each one of them only looked at me and sobbed. However, the kids who didn't even realize they were lost were usually pretty easy to get information from ( I liked stumbling upon those kids a lot more than the ones covered in boogers and tears!).

 

[ttintagel]

So, the first item on the list is to teach kids to find a CM, and to look for the CM's distinctive oval badge. And, the item is accompanied by a picture of... a cartoon alien? If you're going to put a picture with that item, why isn't it a picture of, oh, I don't know, the distinctive oval badge you're telling people to look for?

And I agree that teaching kids to be aware of strangers is OK as far as it goes, but there are many other, more likely, things at WDW parents would do well to be aware of and teach their kids to be aware of. Kids should know not to climb on things, because it hurts to fall down onto solid pavement or into a body of water. Kids shouldn't be wandering off into crowds where they can get knocked down or trampled. They shouldn't be sticking their hands into places where they can get injured, or leaning over railings on high places. At least once each trip, I see some little kid in an unsafe situation, with the parents' attention elsewhere, and think I'm either going to have a heart attack or have to jump in and save the poor little rugrat.

 

[delmar411]

So, the first item on the list is to teach kids to find a CM, and to look for the CM's distinctive oval badge. And, the item is accompanied by a picture of... a cartoon alien? If you're going to put a picture with that item, why isn't it a picture of, oh, I don't know, the distinctive oval badge you're telling people to look for?

And I agree that teaching kids to be aware of strangers is OK as far as it goes, but there are many other, more likely, things at WDW parents would do well to be aware of and teach their kids to be aware of. Kids should know not to climb on things, because it hurts to fall down onto solid pavement or into a body of water. Kids shouldn't be wandering off into crowds where they can get knocked down or trampled. They shouldn't be sticking their hands into places where they can get injured, or leaning over railings on high places. At least once each trip, I see some little kid in an unsafe situation, with the parents' attention elsewhere, and think I'm either going to have a heart attack or have to jump in and save the poor little rugrat.

I agree. For a Disney park visit there are very real things that could happen to a child that parents should be focusing on.

I have seen some serious OMG gasping moments in the parks where you wonder who the heck is suppose to be watching this child and do they know they are moments from certain injury/death!?!?!

I tend to focus on those things with my kids rather than the boogieman.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Hi, again, statistics say differently But we all know is that it is 'reported' in the media more often. When I was growing up, there were 3 news stations on TV. Now they are probably in the 20s.

DisneyWorld could be the safest place in the world for kids, and still, teaching kids to be aware is always a good idea. However, I think a lot of people here have seen kids being physically, or verbally, abused by parents at WDW, by being slapped, spanked, etc. because the kids, and the parents are having meltdowns. Those incidents anywhere would have been overlooked 20 or 30 years ago. Now they are reported. That doesn't mean there are more of them, just that they are noted more frequently.[/QUOTE


To be honest, it really doesn'y matter, if it is one child it's to many

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

And the vast majority of the time the perpetrator of the crime is someone close to or related to the child, not a random person on the street.

Again it does not matter at home or school or a theme park, one child attacked is to many.

We taught our kids skills to be safe as possible.....if any family member or friend ever hurt them.....they would have me to deal with real fast and when it comes to my kids and grandkids I am not forgiving.

AKK

 

[Magpie]

I worked in the Magic Kingdom. When kids are lost and literally so upset they can't even speak, they forget everything. You really can't "train" them to be able to recall information in such a stressful situation. So while I am sure every child I asked knew mommy's name, each one of them only looked at me and sobbed. However, the kids who didn't even realize they were lost were usually pretty easy to get information from ( I liked stumbling upon those kids a lot more than the ones covered in boogers and tears!).

One really good safety tip that doesn't seem to have been mentioned yet is slipping a card into a pocket or sewing a patch inside your child's clothing with your contact information on it. While there's always a chance the child might be so frantic they'll forget they have it on them, in most cases they should be able to hand it over to the cast member. Especially if you tell your child, "If you ever get lost, go to the nearest store or ride and give this to the cast member. They'll help you find me!"

By the way, another useful tip: While every cast member will try to help, many of the cleaning staff don't speak English very well and some have special needs (there's one in Animal Kingdom who has Down's Syndrome). So, it's best to teach your child to look for a cast member in front of a ride or in a store. Those ones all have excellent English language skills.

 

[Magpie]

Again it does not matter at home or school or a theme park, one child attacked is to many.

We tuaght how kids skills to be safe as possible.....if any family member or friend ever hurt them.....they would be dead fast.

Being a parent is really scary. And possibly the scariest part of being a parent is having to take that step of blind faith, and allow your children to venture out into the world without you.

Letting them ride a bike to a friend's house. Letting them go to the pool with their friends. Letting them have a paper route when they're nine. Letting them negotiate the public bus system on their own. Giving them make their own choices and handle problems themselves, even if they don't always make the right choices or handle things in the best way. You want to keep them as safe as possible, but if you don't let them take risks, you're actually increasing the likelihood they'll come to harm.

Also, it's real easy to say that you'd murder anyone who hurt your kids, but in the real world it's never so simple. Families are complex, and there are many ways in which kids get hurt growing up. (Not to mention, it's hard to raise kids from a prison cell.) There's a poster on page two of this thread who talks about growing up with a paranoid mother who instilled an excess of fear in her children. I'm sure she felt she was simply trying to keep them safe from a scary world, and be the best mother she could be! (By the way, if the previous poster is reading this, you wouldn't be Canadian and have a mum who refused to let you get too close to the bushes at the edge of the playground, because, "That's where the pedophiles hide!" Because I've met her.)

 

[silenttuba]

Again it does not matter at home or school or a theme park, one child attacked is to many.

Of course we all feel that way. No one wants to see children get hurt. I teach music for a living. I spend every day at work surrounded by hundreds of kids. I don't want to see anything bad happen to any of them.

But, we need to be realistic. We live in a world with 7 BILLION people. About 300 MILLION of them live in the US. It is inevitable that bad things are going to happen. We can take all the precautions in the world, and we will never, ever completely eliminate the risks.

And again, if we're talking about crime, especially violent crime in the US, there is no denying that there is LESS crime now that there has been in decades. The world is simply SAFER now. Just because you see horrible things reported on the news every day does not change this. Again, with 300 million Americans, there is ALWAYS going to be some level of crime, and the news is ALWAYS going to report on it. That's the stuff that draws an audience.

Should we teach our kids to be aware of their environment, and to be wary of strangers? Of course. But you can't raise them in a bubble, either, and it's not helpful to make them fear the world around them. That's no way to go through life.

 

[MillauFr]

Agree. The US is a very safe place and getting safer every year. I still don't understand why as a society we accept the risks associated with driving. In Seattle the goal is to cut deaths to zero and people are outraged that the government is demanding they drive safely.

 

[MolonLabe]

I agree. The article is way over the top alarmist. Less than 100 children per year are abducted by strangers and it has NEVER happened at WDW. The vast majority of child abuse happens at the hand of someone the child knows and trusts.

115 actually... http://www.missingkids.com/KeyFacts

What worries me more is the "momentary" sexual abuse or other harm that can be caused in a short amount of time by a deranged person.

This comes to mind when you think of a spacey parent-

Had that mother been paying attention, the nut ball would have likely chosen a child who was unattended or the child of another spacey parent. Had the mother been half way alert she would have seen the obvious body language and "stalking" the man was displaying prior to grabbing the child. Had the mother ever considered the idea she or her children might be the victim of a violent crime she would have some idea of how to react to that situation BEFORE the guy puts the knife to the childs throat. Had she.... we could go on and on. Instead we watch the guy who snatched her child have to tell her he took the kid. Unreal.

This incident shows the guy who wrote that article has no idea what s/he is talking about. Being in a stroller/shopping cart means nothing for "safety".

A very wise little green man once said "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering".

I think it's essential to teach our children to make smart safe decisions, but it's also very important not to instill fear in the process.

I love Yoda, in fact he is my first born's favorite character in Star Wars. She loves that little guy, lol.

You will note that even though Yoda preached patience, diplomacy, wisdom and knowledge he still carried a light saber. That's where the difference comes from being scared all the time vs oblivious vs aware and ready. There is a very happy middle ground and Yoda is the SciFi embodiment of that picture IMO. Don't live in fear of evil but be cognizant of it and ready to face it at a moments notice.

The person who wrote that article has little to no experience, let alone expertise, in personal safety or security. The mindless drivel in the beginning raving about Disneys gate security "checking bags for weapons and explosives" shows that in and of itself. Security theater, nothing more.

That said, I do "feel" safer in the WDW parks than anywhere I'd go with a lot of people. Feel of course is the operative word in that sentence.

The chances of something "bad" happening in the Disney Park is slim, very slim. That said, it isn't out of the realm of possibilities. I'll admit I am a little more relaxed at WDW and give the girls a longer 'leash' then they would have at a shopping mall or some where else.

Violent crime, murder, kidnappings are at decades low levels but still 1 in 4 Americans WILL be the victim of a violent crime at least once in their lives. People need to be prepared that they might be a "statistic" one day and be prepared to tilt the odds in their favor should that day ever come. The first step on that path is awareness.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Of course we all feel that way. No one wants to see children get hurt. I teach music for a living. I spend every day at work surrounded by hundreds of kids. I don't want to see anything bad happen to any of them.

But, we need to be realistic. We live in a world with 7 BILLION people. About 300 MILLION of them live in the US. It is inevitable that bad things are going to happen. We can take all the precautions in the world, and we will never, ever completely eliminate the risks.

And again, if we're talking about crime, especially violent crime in the US, there is no denying that there is LESS crime now that there has been in decades. The world is simply SAFER now. Just because you see horrible things reported on the news every day does not change this. Again, with 300 million Americans, there is ALWAYS going to be some level of crime, and the news is ALWAYS going to report on it. That's the stuff that draws an audience.

Should we teach our kids to be aware of their environment, and to be wary of strangers? Of course. But you can't raise them in a bubble, either, and it's not helpful to make them fear the world around them. That's no way to go through life.

You are of course right, there will always be some hurt..............I frankly do not believe the number and statistics that are given to us..............look at the number of rapes increasing on college campus's.

I do not believe anyone here said to raise kids in a bubble...I surely didn't. but ideas lke these tips are a good idea.

As I said before, everyone has their opinion,.............................Teaching a child safety and how to protect themselves, does NOT mean teaching them FEAR, quite the opposite, your teaching/empowering them to know they have the skills to protect themselves and not be afraid.


AKK

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

g

Being a parent is really scary. And possibly the scariest part of being a parent is having to take that step of blind faith, and allow your children to venture out into the world without you.

Letting them ride a bike to a friend's house. Letting them go to the pool with their friends. Letting them have a paper route when they're nine. Letting them negotiate the public bus system on their own. Giving them make their own choices and handle problems themselves, even if they don't always make the right choices or handle things in the best way. You want to keep them as safe as possible, but if you don't let them take risks, you're actually increasing the likelihood they'll come to harm.

Also, it's real easy to say that you'd murder anyone who hurt your kids, but in the real world it's never so simple. Families are complex, and there are many ways in which kids get hurt growing up. (Not to mention, it's hard to raise kids from a prison cell.) There's a poster on page two of this thread who talks about growing up with a paranoid mother who instilled an excess of fear in her children. I'm sure she felt she was simply trying to keep them safe from a scary world, and be the best mother she could be! (By the way, if the previous poster is reading this, you wouldn't be Canadian and have a mum who refused to let you get too close to the bushes at the edge of the playground, because, "That's where the pedophiles hide!" Because I've met her.)

Please quote me correctly...............I did not say murder, there is a difference, but that is a whole different discussion.......and by hurt I was referring to attacking, assault, sexual assault etc.


That said, I agree with you:

***You want to keep them as safe as possible, but if you don't let them take risks, you're actually increasing the likelihood they'll come to harm.***



As I said near the beginging of this thread:

..............Teaching a child safety and how to protect themselves, does not mean teaching them fear, quite the opposite, your teaching/empowering them to know they have the skills to protect themselves and not be afraid.

All I did at the start of this thread was post a repeat of 10 way to help keep kids safe.............seems that's a good thing, even if you don't agree with them all, does but mean anyone is teaching fear.


AKK

 

[silenttuba]

All I did at the start of this thread was post a repeat of 10 way to help keep kids safe.............seems that's a good thing, even if you don't agree with them all, does but mean anyone is teaching fear.


AKK

Yes, but that list should have been more appropriately titled "10 ways to keep your kids safe from strangers." As it has been pointed out before, the hanged of your child being in any real danger at Disney World from strangers is slim to none. There are many other things that pose a threat to their safety, which don't involve strangers at all. You want to keep them safe? Teach them to swim. Teach them to always obey all cast member instructions. Teach them never to go into places that are roped or walled off. Teach them not to antagonize animals. Those skills (and more) would go a long way.