"Train the trainer" class helps adults protect children
By Jennifer Siciliano Shayne, Staff Writer
With the rash of child abductions in the news of late, many parents, teachers and health care workers have been increasingly concerned about the safety of the children in their care.
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Louann Engle, installation Family Advocacy Program (FAP) manager here, with other members of FAP, began to work on a plan to inform parents and help them to inform their children of various dangers.

FAP held a "train the trainer" class Aug. 7 and 8 at McGill Education and Training Center, to teach parents, caregivers, teachers and health care workers child safety skills, as well as how to teach children and youth in their communities how to protect themselves from various dangers.

The training was attended by more than 30 civilian and military personnel from the Fort Meade community, Andrews Air Force Base, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Fort Detrich and Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

"Back in April, we were looking for unique products to give to parents to help them be aware," Engle said. Through the S.A.F.E Network (Safety Awareness and Family Education), a nonprofit corporation which advocates for and protects children and young adults from abuse, FAP found the Kid ID Kit, developed by Don and Susan Rogers of S.A.F.E Network.

The ID Kit is a means of cataloguing a child's identifying characteristics for four years. Parents and children can use the kit at home. It contains fingerprint ink strips, pouches for ID cards, an immunization record and a DNA pouch.

In the event a child is abducted, Engle said, parents can go to the police, give them the information in the kit and say, "This is my kid," Engle noted.

"We had an overwhelming interest in (the kit)," said Engle. In fact, "Fort Meade was the first military installation to purchase the ID Kits," she said.

With the almost daily news reports and updates on missing and exploited children, Engle said, "The timing of the program could not have come at a better time.”

Engle said the participants learned skills to teach children and youths, such as the use of code words. Parents and their children can determine an agreed-upon code word to use that is easy for a child to remember, but not so commonplace that a stranger could easily guess it. So, Engle said if an adult approaches a child with a ploy such as, "Your mom said I was to pick you up from school today," the child could counter with, "What's the code word?"
If that adult does not know the code word, the child should not go with him or her.

Other skills learned dealt with body safety (knowing the difference between "good touch" and "bad touch"), dating safety (knowing that it's okay to turn down an advance from a date), and what to do if a stranger approaches and tries to get the child to follow (go to any other adult and say, "That person is not my mommy/daddy").

Engle said that even very young children can be taught basic safety skills, and it's up to the parents to talk to their children about it. Children as young as age 3 can begin learning, she said.

"If adults don't take safety seriously, then children won't be safe," said Engle. This safety can be applied in many ways parents seldom consider, she added. By leaving a child in a parked car, unsupervised, even if it's just to "run in for a minute," that adult is putting the child in danger of being taken by a stranger, she said.

The S.A.F.E. Network has been integral to FAP's child safety training curriculum, Engle remarked. The Rogers' were the instructors for the training here.

Fort Meade's FAP now owns two copies of the curriculum taught at the training, which can be signed out on loan to community groups.

More "train the trainer" classes will be scheduled throughout the year, Engle said. Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention is in October, and she said educational opportunities will coincide with that month, as well as with April's Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month.

"This was a great opportunity for our community to come together because we had such a cross-section of parents and professionals," Engle said, adding, "They're learning how to go out into the community to teach safety.”

For more information on child safety, or any other programs offered by FAP, call Louann Engle or Stacey Hale, FAP victim advocate at 677-5590. For more information on S.A.F.E. Network, visit www.safenetwork.org