Take 25 Program Helps Promote Child Safety

Twenty-five minutes might seem like a lot of time in the scope of your busy day, but using it to talk to your kids about being safe might be the most important way to spend that time. 

On Wednesday, a community awareness event was held at the Rancho San Diego library to promote the "Take 25" program, which encourages parents to set aside 25 minutes to talk to their children about being safe. The event was sponsored by the Lemon Grove Sheriff's Station in conjuction with the federally-funded National Center For Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), and as part of National Missing Children's Day.

More than 200 parents and children stopped by the library to learn about the program.

Representatives from the sheriff's station were on hand to provide child ID kits and to give parents helpful tips about how to keep children safe. Kids had a chance to get fingerprinted for their ID kits, which serve as a valuable resource that parents can have in the event that a child goes missing.

The Take 25 program offers tips and advice about how to keep kids safe at home, on the Internet, going to and from school, and while they are out and about. It also offers up realistic "what-if" scenarios, which can help prepare kids for how to respond if they encounter a person or situation that seems potentially dangerous.

Established during the Reagan Administration in 1984, NCMEC works at coordinating law enforcement, social service agencies, educators, and others to help prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation.

They also serve as a national resource to help find missing children and to assist victims of child abduction and sexual exploitation. The event Wednesday was an effort to help raise awareness, said Sgt. Chris Davis.

"We wanted to let parents know that they can use us as a resource, and offer tips to parents and kids about how to stay safe," said Davis. "A lot of times, parents do not know what takes to keep children safe."

Davis said that teaching children how to become self-aware of certain situations and to anticipate potential danger is just as important as preparing parents.

"Of the 800,000 reported missing persons cases each year, a high percentage are returned safely due to a child's actions of recognizing dangers," he said. "They are able to get out because of education, since a lot of times the threat comes from someone they know or trust."

The event also addressed other types of dangers that kids face, including online and gaming. Information was provided to help parents understands these dangers.

Event participants were able to talk to sheriff's deputies, play with three "search" beagles, and take an upclose look at department vehicles. Representatives from the Rancho San Diego Target store were also onhand to volunteer and provide refreshments.

"We want to work to strive to give back to the community, and to the families who work and live in the area," said Justin McDonald, executive team leader in Assets Protetction for Target. "We feel like it's important for families to do this, so we got involved."