Background

When I lived in Botkins, Ohio, I was concerned because parents let their children as young as five or six run around town all day unsupervised. Botkins is right off the Interstate, and a child abductor could grab one of them and be 100 miles away before anyone noticed them missing. I'm not giving anything away here, because people in the business of stealing children already know all about that.

So I started a project to educate the kids, along with their parents, on how to keep themselves safe, and even put up a web site called "Botkins Protect" to support it. I went around town talking to families, but to my disappointment and utter amazement, only one mother was interested. The police chief offered an explanation, but it was still so inscrutable that I never did understand. I gave up on it and let the web site die.

Alas! A recent unfortunate circumstance left some children I care very much about in a rotten situation. It's not one of abduction, but one of emotional abuse and neglect. It had been manageable until an unforeseen agent came into the picture. I intended to dig up the code and database for the old site and put it back online with suitable updates, but counfoundingly, there doesn't seem to be a trace of it anywhere, even though I still have work from 20 years earlier, before I even knew what I was doing. Even the graphic I had licensed for the header seems to have evaporated from the folder in which I keep them all.

OK, be that way. I'll start over, and this is it. Be advised, that it'll take a while to get everything up to snuff.

One of the sad stories I had on that site, one which really touched me, was that of a little girl who had been repeatedly molested by a man their family knew. Seems she was about nine. She kept it quiet. Then came the day when she asked her abuser for a bicycle. He refused, and she threatened to tell about what he had been doing, so he murdered her. I keep thinking, "If only she had been taught and not left to deal with matters on her own, she would still be alive." I'm not confident I've found that story either, but it could possibly be the case of April Tinsley. It was years before the case was solved even though her father believed he knew all along who did it. I want that story again. If you know exactly what I'm talking about, click the contact link in the page footer and let me know about it..

Principles

Kids are the first line of defense

Children are with themselves at all times. Parents aren't. Therefore, children need to be prepared to keep themselves safe on their own. Unfortunately, sometimes parents are what they need to keep themselves safe from.

Kids need to be empowered

Children need to be educated about the risks around them, but also need to be equipped with the emotional skills required. Kidpower International is correct that it should be "stranger safety", not "stranger danger," which teaches kids fear instead of strength.

The information kids need has to be freely available

Though the information from Kidpower is excellent and highly recommended, it also comes with a hefty price tag that is prohibitive for some of the families that need it the most. It is the intent of this site to develop and disseminate information without cost.

Kids need a network of supportive adults

Yes, in addition to their parents. Children need to feel comfortable in a society that has their backs

Stay tuned

Right now, this is only a rought draft of the web site, tossed together in a couple of hours. Please return to watch progress, knowing that I have to work in in along with other work. Such is the life of volunteer efforts