A parent must know where their children are at every moment. This may not have been the case in the past, but times have changed and it is imperative that parents know this information. Not only where they are but also where they will be at any point in the day. This information is critical to detection that your child is unaccounted for during the course of their day. While the child may be perfectly fine it is important for finding a potentially missing child that the search begin as soon as possible. Some parents are using GPS devices in their child’s cell phones to know exactly where their children are at any given time. This also helps if your child is not telling you the truth of where they are during the day. If they are not in school during school hours you will know immediately. Cell phone services offer a family locator service for this purpose.

Let your children know what places are off limits to them. It is important that children know where dangers might present themselves. If you know of predators in your area, let your children know to stay away from those homes. It is not necessary to go into graphic detail to your children; just let them know to stay away.

Get to know your neighbors. Other parents can be of invaluable help in the case of missing children or predators lurking in your neighborhood. Keep track of suspicious behavior in the neighborhood.

While we may never eliminate the tragedy of missing children, as parents we can do a great many things to keep our children safe.