Why should I fingerprint my kids?

          A person’s fingerprints never change, and are one of the most valuable investigative tools available to law enforcement. In the unfortunate event of a missing child, fingerprints can be used to track the movements of the child and the abductor. During the crucial first moments after a child is discovered missing, parents are often too emotionally upset to remember details such as the child’s height, weight, and blood type. child identification kits (like our Baby Prints, Kid Prints & Teen Prints Sasfety ID Kits) condense this information into a compact booklet that can be simply handed to the first investigators on the scene.

How do I know I've Fingerprinted My Child Correctly?

           In most all ID kits or fingerprint programs designed for the parent, caregiver or layperson to do the fingerprinting, instructions are usually included. According to the information we have been provided by the agencies mentioned above, only 20% of the print needs to be of good quality in fingerprints in order for the police to get a match. This means out of 10 fingers only two fingers have to be been done right. Our belief is that the average adult with average intelligence and average reading skills can do a great deal better than a minimum 20%.

          There are a very select few individuals and organizatoins that promote the premise that only police agencies or forensic personnel or others professionally trained, are capable of doing an adequate job of fingerprinting children. These organizations and individuals most often are also selling an expensive or inexpensive program that has you the pareanat sending them your child's picture and personal information and then waiting several weeks for that information to come back to you in the form of an id card, or digitized fingerprint and data card.

Aren’t child identification cards the same thing?

          No. An identification card is usually laminated and therefore once made can't reused. That is why it is important to have them re-done each year. The parent should be carrying the ID card on them, child ID kits are kept in one safe location, easily accessible for use by the police agency investigating, in the event of an emergency. Other forms of identification can be placed on the child's person, but should not take the place of a parent carrying one as well.

Can fingerprinting protect my child from abduction?
          Fingerprints won’t help prevent abduction, or even keep a child from running away. However, fingerprinting a child will likely encourage dialogue between parents and the child about the issue of safety. Child safety color books, websites like our Kid Tips 101 and The Teen Scene, the site you are on here is for adults, and other free materials are available as resources on safety rules and tips for both parent and child.

Isn’t fingerprinting children and non-criminals an invasion of privacy?

          Some people think so. That is why our child ID Kits are designed to be completed and stored by parents, at home. This eliminates the need to take the child to the police or sheriff’s office, to have the child fingerprinted by an unfamiliar person, or to have the child’s fingerprints kept in the public record.

I’ve already photographed and videotaped my child…isn’t that enough?

           Video tapes are nice, but not realistic for providing the police that instant and immediate data and photograph information theyneed. If you are committed to taking advantage of every available tool for protecting your child, he or she should certainly be fingerprinted every year. Fingerprints are one of the most effective tools for locating a missing person.

If fingerprints never change, why should I update them each year?

          Local, state and federal police agencies have all told us that the formation of the print itself stays the same, but between the ages of birth to about 12 years of age, the depth and clarity of a fingerprint becomes more defined, easier to read and print. From that point on, they say that you should still continue to fingerprint your kids up through age 18. There are many things that can alter a print, even temporarily; it can be as simple as a paper cut, a burn, a cut from a knife or broken glass. All of these and other possibilities can change the immediate and sometimes long term form of a fingerprint. These changes can often help in quicker identification of a found child, saving hours and sometimes days of the identification process.

Who is qualified to fingerprint children?

          This question might be easier to answer if it was who is NOT qualified. If you do not want to believe what I tell you here, (and I am telling you that YES, you are qualified to take someone's fingerprints) then call your local police, sheriff or highway patrol office, your local state department of justice, the federal department of justice, the FBI, and/or your local Boy Scouts of America district office, or Fingerprint Merit Badge Counselor. Ask them if you, as a layperson, with the proper instructions, written or verbal, could take a usable print from a child or adult.

OPINION
I will be the first to say that any method you use to document vital information on your children is a good thing. It is my belief, and the concepts that motivate this organization that you should have those made available to you in as inexpensive, and easy to access manner as possible. The most important thing is that you do the following every year for each of your children. (It can't hurt to have it on your college age kids and yourself as well)
                  *Fingerprint both hands (fingers and palm)
                  *Footprint babies through about age 4
                 * Take a good quality head and shoulder picture each year annually
                  *Have a viable DNA sample stored
                 Susan Rogers, Director,     Safety Awareness & Family Education Network, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit
                                     Call 800-643-3310 or email staff@safenetwork.org for reprint authorization