Toy Safety

New laws on the books to further regulate consumer protections in regards to children’s toys and other items for your child go a long way to helping you keep them safe. But is it enough? With all of the child safety worries out there these days, US News and World Report has put together a list of five ways to keep your kids safe at home.

1. Don’t buy toys with rare Earth magnets.
2. Shun metal jewelry  for kids.
3. Be suspicious of brightly painted wooden and plastic toys.
4. Avoid plastic toys if phthalates scare you.
5. Check recall notices

Check out their article for further information on these five issues.

Secondary Amber Alert System

A new secondary Amber Alert system called the Rilya Alert system has popped up via an organization called Peas In Their Pods.

For the Rilya Alert System to work, parents of missing children should immediately contact their local police department to file a report and request that their child be entered into the National Crime Information Center Missing Person File. Once the report is filed, parents should immediately contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which serves as a liaison between law enforcement and the community. Parents should then contact Peas In Their Pods by calling 516-333-9882. Peas In Their Pods will then contact local news stations and radio stations to have the missing child’s information broadcasted. This broadcasted information is known as the Rilya Alert.

Why the new system?

“The founder of Peas In Their Pods, Janice Lowery, was frustrated that the abducted, African American children were not receiving an adequate amount of media attention,” said Gaetane Borders, president of the organization. “Ms. Lowery felt that starting Peas In Their Pods was a calling from God.”

The purpose of the Georgia based Peas In Their Pods is to spread awareness about the number of African American children who are reported missing every day and to make sure that they do receive attention from the media. With help from the creator of the Amber Alert, the organization produced the Rilya Alert System.

 

Too Many False Alarms?

While Amber Alerts have been on the decline around the country, they have been up this year in the state of Massachusetts, which has become a concern for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

"Those Amber coordinators have been very, very careful and diligent in safeguarding the overuse and abuse of the system because we’re afraid of the public becoming desensitized," says Bob Hoever of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

And what would that mean?

"What we typically call it is the Car Alarm Syndrome. After a while when people hear a car alarm going off they don’t even pay attention and that’s what we don’t want to happen," Hoever says.

There are some detractors of the system, however in the state of Massachusetts, all 22 children which Amber Alerts have been issued for have been recovered safely.

 

Airport Safety

A little too true to Hollywood? This story from the Associated Press sounds more like the movie “Home Alone” than real life, but it did indeed happen to a family traveling from Israel to France.

Israeli airport police say a couple going on a European vacation remembered to bring their duty-free shopping and their 18 suitcases, but forgot their 3-year-old daughter at the airport.

The couple and their five children were late for a flight to Paris Sunday and made a mad dash to the gate. In the confusion, their daughter got lost. A policeman found her wandering around the terminal, crying for her mother.

Israeli media report Monday that the ultra-Orthodox Jewish parents, whose names were not released, didn’t notice the child was missing until they were told, in the air, that she had been found at Ben-Gurion airport.

The child, accompanied by an airline staffer, took the next flight to Paris where she was safely reunited with her parents.

Summer is always a hectic time at airports as many families travel for the holidays, so always best to remember to be extra careful when it comes to traveling with children.

 

Cyber Bullying

Cyber bullying has become a problem in today’s youth society of computers and cell phones, so the state of Florida decided to get some cyber bullying laws on the books.

Bullying and, in particular, cyber-bullying is becoming a frequent practice among the American youth.  Incidents are reaching such daunting results that state legislatures are rapidly adopting measures.  For instance, Florida Legislature adopted an anti-bullying, including cyber-bullying, law on April 2008. The law is called "Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act" (Fla. Stat. section 1006.147), named after Jeffrey Johnston, a 15-year-old boy who committed suicide after being the object of bullying, including Internet bullying, for two years.  This new Florida law prohibits bullying and harassment of any public K-12 student or employee, and requires public schools to adopt measures to protect students and employees from the physical and psychological effects of bullying and harassment.

Harassment is defined as any verbal, written, or physical conduct that threatens, insults, or dehumanizes public school students or employees.  Written harassment includes those committed through electronic means and the use of computer software.  The conduct must be sufficient to place the student or employee in reasonable fear of harm against him or his property; and sufficient to interfere with the student"s school performance, opportunities, or benefits.   The Florida anti-bullying law also penalizes those who induce or coerce others to bully or harass public school students or employees.  Students, parents, volunteers, or employees that promptly and in good faith report bullying acts will be exempted from civil cause of actions against them.

Anything that can help our children focus on getting a good education and not worry about being bullied in school is a fantastic step in the right direction.