Building A Child Identity Kit

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- About 25-years ago Jacksonville Attorney Jay Howell started the National Center for Missing and Exploited children. He believes every parent should have a child identification kit, but Howell would like to see more emphasis placed on prevention.

"I'm not feeling too good about Northeast Florida, this is fairly unusual that after the Haleigh's disappearance to have another child maybe abducted by unknown persons in one community in this short of a period, gives me pause for concern," says Howell.

Howell says every parent need to talk to their children about safety.

He says educate your child on safety issues and start early, at age 5. And use simple language to tell your child about the possibility of abduction.

Howell says, "Teach them that if anybody makes them feel uncomfortable, or takes their pictures, or invades their space to let their parents know."

Teach them that their space is the extended length of their arm surrounding their entire body and that area is personal.

These are some more child safety tips:

If you pick them up or drop them off at school, meetings or lesson be on time.

Consider giving you child a prepaid cell phone so he can stay in touch with you or call the police if he feels it is necessary.

Also discuss what happened at school on a daily basis.

"They need to instruct children not to go to school, not to go to the bus stop, not to go to anything alone that is a bad scenario," says Howell.

As for building a Child I-D kit the website National Alert Registry provides a free kit. The Deland, Fla., site also provides a list of registered sex offenders in your zip code.

The kit should contain information about the child, i.e: Name,Age, Height, and other recognizable characteristics such as birthmarks or glasses.

It should have a space for a photograph, and that photo should be updated every four to six months.

Then there's a page for the child's fingerprints and that includes both hands.

Once the kit is completed it should be kept in a safe place and be easily accessible.

To participate in a conversation on First Coast News' Moms Like Me on keeping kids safe, CLICK HERE.

SAFETY EVENT: One child safety organization is providing free fingerprinting and photography for parents this weekend.
From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday S.I.P. Kids will provide free digital fingerprinting and photos for children.

The organization also educates families on how to avoid unsafe situations. The event will be at Cadillac Saab of Orange Park at 7999 Blanding Blvd.

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