To help keep kids safe, it’s important for families to have a plan in case of emergencies.

From getting out of the house during a fire to knowing how to react when confronted by strangers, it’s a good idea to make sure youngsters know how to respond in certain situations.

It can be easy to forget the importance of such planning, as well as the importance of rehearsing/reiterating family plans on a regular basis.

In light of a recent alleged child abduction attempt and with the fall school semester just getting under way, now might be a good time to create such a family plan or go over the basics as a refresher.

Abduction facts

According to Parents.com, a child goes missing or is abducted every 40 seconds in the United States.

Of those, 49 percent are typically kidnappings involving relatives, 27 percent involve an acquaintance of the victim, and 24 percent involve total strangers.

Also of note is the fact that, in about 80 percent of abductions by strangers, the “the first contact between the child and the abductor occurs within a quarter mile of the child’s home,” according to the site.

It’s a sad fact, but most abductions involve people the child may be familiar with, in the area where they likely feel most safe, near home.

Be prepared

For starters, many television shows and movies portray child abductors as evil-looking, sinister individuals.

It’s important to remind children that this is not necessarily the case, and that a stranger is a stranger, no matter how nice they appear to be.

Abductors apply a wide range of tactics to gain the trust of children, which parents should warn their children against.

In this modern age of technology, remind your children that they should never give away personal information online, and that they should notify an adult if anyone ever asks them inappropriate questions online.

Monitoring your child’s Internet use and restricting their computer use to a family room can also be helpful.

Other tactics include something as simple as approaching a child and asking them to help find a lost pet, for directions, or assistance of some sort.

Another approach involves pretending to be a police officer, informing the child that their parents have been hurt and that they need to come with them immediately.

Children should be made aware of these tactics, and it should be explained to them that even in these situations (what child wouldn’t want to help someone find their lost puppy, for instance?) they should never interact with a stranger.

It’s also important to remember that children are most vulnerable when they are alone.

Whether in the neighborhood or walking home from school, the “buddy system” is a good way to enhance safety. Children should similarly stay away from unknown vehicles, even if they appear to be empty.

Also, it might be a good idea to role play with the child to encourage proper behavior in case of emergency.

If approached by a stranger, children should run away and yell what is happening as loudly as possible. People expect to hear a kid yell every now and again, so it is important that the child not simply scream. They should yell the word “stranger,” “help,” or “this is not my dad,” as an example.

Report it

Finally, potential predators can only be caught if incidents are properly reported. In the event of suspicious activity, parents should contact the police and be sure to provide all pertinent information.

If the incident involves a person, then sex, race, clothing, facial features, height, weight, location and the direction they were traveling are all important facts.

Similarly, if a vehicle was involved, the color, make and model, location and travel direction and a description of the occupants should be reported, as well as the license plate, if spotted.

Before making the report, it may be a good idea to write all known information down as quickly as possible before contacting the authorities, to ensure accuracy.

With a bit of preparation and practice, the potential for thwarting an abduction attempt is greatly heightened.

Emergency info

In the event of an emergency, contact the Maricopa Sherriff Office at 602-252-7840 or dial 911.

The anonymous text-a-tip option is also available for anyone who notices any suspicious activity around town. To use this service, send a text to 274637 with the key word “FH” for community, “FHMS” for the middle school or “FHHS” for the high school.

Include a brief description within the text to inform the officer what they should be on the lookout for.

A tutorial video and more information on text-a-tip can also be found at fh.az.gov/text-to-tip.aspx.