Talking to your kids about asking for help if they feel threatened

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Metro Vancouver parents are keeping their kids a bit closer this week after two attempted child abductions near Stanley Park.

Family therapist Alyson Jones believes the most important thing we can do as parents is to teach our kids to listen to their intuition. If something doesn’t feel right, children need to pay attention to that and know who they can ask for help.

“If you are feeling scared or overwhelmed or alone or somehow you have lost your parent in a store or your friend has wandered off, who do you ask for help? That is an important lesson and it’s always best to go to a mom with kids.”

Jones believes teaching kids what to do in those types of situations is the best defence and will help reduce any anxiety they might feel about strangers.

“Talk to them about [what to do] if for some reason you ever got separated… it’s teaching them those sorts of practical skills and who to pay attention to.

She adds there is always safety in numbers so make sure your kids are paired up with a buddy to help keep them safe when they are doing things like walking to and from school.

A two-year-old girl was grabbed by a man in Stanley Park’s Lost Lagoon yesterday. A 28-year-old man has been arrested in connection with that incident; he is also believed to be responsible for the attempted abduction of an eight-year-old girl on Friday.

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