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Wednesday, November 6, 1996
Sheriff encourages parents to help children be safe
More than half of all violent crimes against teen-agers occur in school buildings, on school property or on the street. One in eight students has feared being attached going to or from school.
"These facts and figures are not meant to scare you," Caddo Parish Sheriff Don Hathaway said. "They are meant to give you an idea of the crime problem and how it affects you and your children."
The Sheriff outlined several things parents can do to lower the incidence of crimes committed against children.
Encourage students to call the Safe Schools Hotline -- 222-HELP -- if they know of unsafe or illegal activities in or around their schools. The Sheriff's Office co-sponsors the Hotline, which is completely anonymous -- no names and no caller ID. The Hotline is monitored by Caddo Sheriff's investigators, and the appropriate law enforcement agency is notified of the information received.
Encourage children to walk and play with friends, not alone.
Teach children to settle arguments with words, not fists or lethal weapons, and to walk away when others are arguing.
Make sure children are taking the safest routes to and from school, stores and friends' houses. Walk the routes together and point out places along the routes they can go for help.
Encourage children to be alert and to tell an adult -- a parent, a teacher, a law enforcement officer -- about anything they see that does not seem quite right.
Check out the school's policy on children who are absent from school. Are parents called when a child is absent?
"By teaching our children how to be prepared and how to handle a variety of situations, we hope we can safeguard them against unwanted confrontations," Sheriff Hathaway said. "It is up to parents to take positive actions to protect their children and help them learn how to respond to a threatening situation."