What You Can Do To Protect Kids On National Missing Children's Day

It’s the nightmare that lurks in every parent’s darkest thoughts. One day, your child simply vanishes into thin air, leaving no clues about where he or she might be. Even after calling the police and phoning every friend, teacher, and neighbor that might possibly know something, you’re still no closer to knowing where they are… or who might be responsible for their disappearance.

This actually happened to the parents of 6-year-old Etan Patz on May 25th, 1979 in New York, thirty-six years ago today. The tragic case made the nation aware of the danger of child abduction, and how law enforcement and the public were not well prepared to handle missing children cases. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan declared May 25th to be National Missing Children's Day in honor of him.

Patz, sadly, was never found. He was declared legally dead in 2001. A man who may have been responsible for Patz’s disappearance was tried for murder, but it ended in a mistrial on May 9th of this year.

While his case may never be solved, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children uses today to remind everybody what we can all do to help missing children.

Key Facts About Missing Kids

• As of 2014, the FBI has a total 466,949 juvenile missing persons on file.
• 76.2 percent of children who are abducted and murdered are dead within three hours of being captured.
• The AMBER alert program was started in 1996. According to the Department Of Justice, it has successfully helped recover 758 children.

What You Can Do For Your Own Children

Parental involvement can help your children from going missing and assist in their quick recovery. Here are three things all parents can do to protect their children.

Keep An Up-To-Date Picture Of Your Child

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has an ongoing campaign called Picture Them Home. Good, recent images are one of the most important tools that police use to find missing children. So they encourage all parents to always maintain clear and current pictures of their children.

Create A Child ID Kit

You can also store more comprehensive identifying information with a child ID kit. In addition to a photo, an ID kit also contains personal information, physical characteristics, medical information, and fingerprints. Keep this in a secure place and update the photograph and any other important information every six months.

After a child goes missing, speed is crucial to a successful recovery. The quicker you are able to provide this information to the police if your child goes missing, the faster they can alert the public.

Educate Your Children About Safety

Many parents never take the time to teach their children about possible dangers. Simply teaching them basic things, such as the importance of calling 911 in an emergency, and your phone number, can empower them to seek help if they are in danger.

However, in the modern age, abductors don’t even need to live near you. They can prey on your children online. To help parents give their children much-needed safety education, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children created the Netsmartz Workshop. It provides parents with tools to teach their kids about cyberbullying, the dangers of revealing too much information, online predators, and other Internet threats.

Do A Background Check On Your Neighbors

Laws that restrict where registered child sex offenders can live vary from state to state. So it’s possible that there’s somebody who has a history of abusing children living on your block, and you don’t even know it. If you have your suspicions about someone, pull their background check report. It might contain their entire criminal history, previous addresses, and any aliases they might use. You might be surprised by the history of people you know.

What You Can Do For Other Children

Want to be involved in the national effort to help missing children? Here are a few easy ways anyone can help.

Sign Up To Receive AMBER Alerts

Hundreds of children have been recovered because everyday people recognized them from AMBER Alerts. If you want to be informed when a child from your area goes missing, download the official AMBER Alert App. You’ll be notified on your phone whenever there’s an AMBER Alert.

Get Your Workplace Involved

Want to use your workplace to help missing children? The NCMEC provides several ways for companies to help the fight against child abduction. For example, you may join the LexisNexis Adam program. When a child goes missing, your workplace will receive a photo and description about the child so you can display it in a public place.

You can also become a partner with NCMEC. Partners host sponsored events and display important child safety info alongside their products or services. If you’re interested, contact NCMEC's Development Department at 1-866-411-KIDS (5437).

If You See Something, Say Something

The systems we use to help missing kids have improved dramatically in the decades since Patz’s disappearance. In 1990, the recovery rate for missing children was 62%. Today, it’s 97%. But it’s far from perfect. The government has discovered that the most powerful tool for safely recovering children is a concerned and informed public. Pay attention to AMBER alerts and other missing child notifications. If you think you see a missing child, call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 800-843-5678. Your tip could help reunite a missing child with their parents.