Stranger Danger: tips to keep your children safe

Social media is abuzz today after an apparent attempted kidnapping of a 15-year-old Mooresville girl from the subdivision in which she lives.

Neighbors report that an older man in a van “grabbed” the girl yesterday at the entrance of Glynwater subdivision, across from Mooresville Municipal Golf Course. They say the girl got away. But so did her assailant. For more information, click here.

With this incident occurring on the heels of another attempted child abduction at Mooresville's Walmart just last month, area parents are naturally on edge.

To help safeguard your children from potential predators, Mooresville Police Maj. Ron Chilton says parents need to teach young people about “stranger danger.”

“While strangers may mean no harm,” Chilton says, “children need to be taught to let their parents know when a stranger is around.” He says the adult can then assess the risk.

“Parents should make sure they know where their children are at all times - this includes at home, in their neighborhoods, in a local store, or away on vacation,” he adds.

In the event a young person finds themselves in a situation of potential abduction, Chilton says, they need to draw as much attention as possible to attract help. “This might include yelling, screaming, kicking, hitting, biting or whatever they can do to draw attention to the situation” and let people know that “something isn't right.”

Bob Mangan, owner of Mangan Martial Arts Academy on Main Street in Mooresville, has spent many years as a passionate proponent of teaching self-defense techniques to children and adults. Mangan says every child should be taught how to respond in the event s/he is ever confronted by a predator.

Interestingly, one of his first tips is: do not scream “Help!” 

That word, Mangan says, is used too often by kids when they are horsing around with their peers and parents. Instead, parents should teach their children to scream, “This is not my father/mother! I don't know this person!”

“Yelling, 'Fire!' is also a good one, because it brings attention to the situation,” Mangan says, adding that the child should be taught to drop to the ground, kicking and screaming, if it is possible in the situation.

If standing, “Put yourself in a defensive posture, with your hands up, almost in a pushing motion (fighting stance),” Mangan says. “Start yelling, 'Stop! Stop! Get back! Get back!'”

“Your voice” says Mangan, “is a very powerful weapon.”

But even more powerful, he says, is awareness: “Awareness is your number-one self-defense technique.”

He offers the following tips on how NOT to become a target:

1. Don't talk on a cell phone while walking in a parking lot.
2. Don't have ear buds in if walking, running or sitting in a public place.
3. Don't travel alone.

“Predators like easy prey,” Mangan says. “The lion chases the zebras, and the one it kills is the one that stays away from the herd.”

Chilton encourages families to download the app Life360 on smartphones. “This program can allow parents to find out where their children are in real time (as long as they have the phone with them),” he says. “The program may require the phone to have GPS capability.”

For more information on self-defense techniques or courses offered by Mangan Martial Arts, please visit www.manganmaa.com or call Mangan at 704-799-3645.