NCJ Number
98366
Journal
Virginia Journal of Education Volume: 78 Issue: 8 Dated: (April 1985) Pages: 8-12,15-16
Date Published
1985
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Teachers and other school employees are in an excellent position to help find missing children and prevent abductions, simply by being alert to the threat of abductions from school grounds and by being conscious that a missing child could show up in their classroom.
Abstract
Cautionary notes advise teachers to be alert for alienated or withdrawn children, recommend teaching students self-protection strategies, and caution teachers about releasing a child to unknown individuals. Tip-offs that a child may have been abducted are discussed, including a child's incomplete school records, their resistance to having their school pictures taken, and their being delivered and picked up daily by one parent. School abduction-prevention policies are encouraged, including locking school doors and requiring that visitors check in at the office, establishing a morning call-back system to alert parents when children don't reach school, instituting a voluntary fingerprinting program, requiring that parents complete forms notifying the school as to who has the authority to pick up the child at school, establishing a careful procedure for releasing children, and insisting on complete identification and school records on each child. Current legislation, such as the new child-protections laws passed by the Virginia General Assembly is reviewed.