Missing child: what to do
Even the most vigilant parents are not immune from this.
I remember how my mother lost me as a child. I remember her eyes, distraught with fear, when she found me. Mom still remembers that incident with horror.
It was in a strange city, in a large street market, where gypsies scurried about in flocks. Mom stood in line for strawberries, and I walked away from the counter and squatted down. When I got up, my mother was gone. Perhaps she did not notice me squatting, she thought I had run away, and rushed to search.
I was only 4 years old. I could not think of standing still and waiting for my mother – bursting into tears, I ran through the rows to look for her. It ended well, she found me. Although everything could have turned out differently.
How to prevent the loss of a child and what to do if he is still lost. Detailed instructions for Woman’s Day were Alina Pavlyukova, head of the prevention department of the Liza Alert search and rescue squad.
1. Dress your child brightly. Take a picture of him before leaving the house – in which case you can show the picture to passers-by, the administration of the shopping center, security, police.
2. Encourage your child to stay close to you. Due to the large crowd of people in the mall, you might overlook it.
3. Tell your child what to do if he is lost, if he does not know where you are: “Stop, look around, shout out to mom / dad / the one with whom you went shopping.”
4. Tell whom the child can turn to for help if it does not help: “Go to the seller or the security guard. Say: “I am lost. My name is Misha. My mom / my dad / my companion’s name is … “
5. Tell your child not to leave the place where he last saw you. This will make it easier for you to find it.
6. More often remind your child of the behavior algorithm in case he gets lost. This will make it easier for him to navigate in a stressful situation.
7. If, nevertheless, the child disappears from sight in the shopping center, contact the information desk / reception. Ask the head of security to order to block the entrances and exits, and the child could not leave the building on his own. Have the administration announce over the speakerphone that a child is lost, urging shopping mall visitors to pay attention to children straying from adult children.
Children are also lost in public transport. Especially at rush hour when there are a lot of people.
For example, the mother said to the child: “Let’s go out” and left, but the child did not hear and drove on. Therefore, the child must know in advance: if he is left alone on the bus / in the subway car, he must get off at the next stop and wait for you on the spot.
The opposite situation: the child did not have time to enter the carriage or got out, and you remained in the transport. Again, warn him that in this case he must stay at the bus stop and wait for you. Always say that you will definitely come back for it.
You can get lost in long metro passages when there are a lot of people. The child may simply not see you in the crowd. In this situation, he should loudly shout out to you. And in general, do not hesitate in such cases to shout loudly in a public place. In children, a reflex sometimes works – after all, their parents always told them that it was indecent to shout.
At concerts and mass celebrations
1. As with going to the mall, dress your child in bright clothes for mass celebrations and take a photo of the child before going out.
2. Explain clearly to stay close to your parents. Always keep your child in your field of vision.
3. The child must know his name, the name of the accompanying persons – last name, first name and patronymic, as well as the telephone number of the accompanying person.
4. Learn with your child the phone number of loved ones, whom he can call if he is lost.
5. Let him know if he has lost his parents: “Stop, look around, shout out”.
6. If the child is lost, do not panic. Alert security, call 112, call the police, seek help from families with children. Try to remember exactly where you saw your child the last time.