9 Tips to Keep Kids Safe from Child Predators, from Author of Parenting Book

The recent alleged abduction, rape and murder of eight-year old Sandra Cantu by Sunday School teacher, Melissa Cantu, is a wake-up call for parents. Here are 9 tips to help parents learn how to keep their children safe from child predators.

Reno, NV (PRWEB) April 29, 2009

The recent alleged abduction, rape and murder of eight-year old Sandra Cantu from Tracy, CA by Sunday School teacher, Melissa Huckaby (Complaint # SF111539A), is a wake-up call for parents. Recent statistics from the Crimes Against Children Research Center cite that there are between 60,000 - 70,000 arrests for sex crimes against children each year. Although crimes against children are down, it is crucial that parents learn what to do to keep their children safe from child predators.

According to Laura Ramirez, author of the award-winning parenting book, Keepers of the Children: Native American Wisdom and Parenting, parents need to realize that it's not enough to teach children to stay away from strangers anymore because statistics show that the majority of crimes committed against children (rape, abduction and murder) are committed by persons known to the family.

Here are some tips for keeping children safe from child predators:

• Raise children to trust their instincts.
• Give children the time and attention they need. (Psychologists refer to this as meeting the child's dependency needs.) Child predators prey on kids who are not getting enough attention or who come from troubled or broken homes. Pedophiles seduce these kids emotionally by giving them the attention they crave.
• Stop training children to be nice. Teach them to be real instead--to be connected to their feelings and to trust their perceptions about others.
• Don't raise children to blindly follow authority. It's important to teach kids how to spot adults who manipulate others for personal gain. Ramirez explains this fully in her book.
• Teach children that niceness does not necessarily equal goodness. Psychopaths trick others by being overly nice or helpful. This was one of the techniques used by serial killer, Ted Bundy. Even after his capture and arrest, many people who thought they knew him did not believe he could be guilty because in their words, "He was so nice."
• Support and investigate kids' perceptions of others, including adults.
• Although most parents teach children to stay away from strangers, statistics reveal that parents need to be more concerned about relatives, neighbors, teachers, coaches and people working in the home. Parents need to let children know that they can tell them about any adults who make them feel uncomfortable. In Ramirez's book, she teaches parents how to keep a watchful eye on these child guardians.
• Check to make sure that church workers, coaches and anyone who has close, regular contact with children have undergone background checks.
• Parents need to get to know adults before trusting them to care for children. Don't be fooled by an adult's credentials or position within the church or community. Here is a checklist of potential warning signs for spotting a child predator.

Rather than frightening parents, these tips should make them more aware, so they can better protect their children. In Ramirez's parenting book, "Keepers of the Children: Native American Wisdom and Parenting," she shows parents a unique way to teach children the basics of psychology, using Mother Nature. This allows children to develop keen discernment skills that will keep them safe from harm.

According to Ramirez, it is wise to teach children about the different types of people in the world while they are still under the protective wing of parents. Kids need to learn how to survive in this world before they can thrive in it.

Parents need to educate themselves about the child predators among us and then teach their children what to do if they encounter them. According to Ramirez, "The trick is to teach children to be aware, rather than frightened. The last thing parents want to do is to raise good kids who go out into the world unprepared to meet its challenges because they were raised with a naive view of the world."

Laura Ramirez is the author of the award-winning parenting book, "Keepers of the Children: Native American Wisdom and Parenting." The book, which won a Nautilus award for books that "promote conscious living and social change," teaches parents how to be raise children with survival skills that will teach them how to thrive and act with integrity and strength.

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