NCJ Number
114653
Date Published
1988
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This chapter details actions Australian parents can take to reduce the probability of their children becoming missing or running away from home.
Abstract
The chapter advises parents to cultivate in their children a healthy suspicion of strangers. Sexual molestation is discussed as child abuse that may occur outside the home from a stranger or inside the home by a family member. Helpful advice for parents includes compiling identification data on their children to assist in recovering them should they become missing and becoming familiar with their children's routes to and from school. Children's leisure time hangouts should also be identified by their parents. To assist parents in preventing their children from running away, the chapter suggests ways parents can maintain sound relations with their children and identify behaviors antecedent to running away. In identifying the latter behaviors, parents may change their behaviors to prevent the child's running away. The discussion also addresses the custodial abduction of children by divorced or separated parents along with preventive strategies.