The festive season is upon us. With the increased amounts of visitors and the general hustle and bustle of exploring the CBD, the chances of losing a child becomes more real.
Encourage your child or children to walk closely next to you, and always keep them in your sight. CCID Social Development manager Pat Eddy suggests you hold the hands of younger children. This avoids stress as it is often difficult to find a small person in a crowd.
Regularly check that you know where your child is and that they are not out of your sight. Do not leave your children unattended in your car.
Hopefully you have spoken to your children from a young age about the possibility of getting lost so that they do have a plan should they become separated from you. Most important is for them to know their name, age and your name and, in the case of older children, your telephone number and address as well. You should encourage them to seek assistance from a law enforcement officer if they get lost and not to wander further away. If you are in the Cape Town CBD, they can also approach a CCID public safety officer.
Once you realise that your child is missing you should immediately report the incident to the South African Police Service (SAPS) and open a case of a missing child. Do not wait for an extended period before reporting the matter. Frequently, the public believe that you have to wait 24 hours to report a missing child, but this is not correct. Speed in reporting a child as missing could make a world of difference to finding the child as quickly as possible.
You constantly have to be alert as children innocently and quickly wander away from a responsible adult, and can get lost in crowds in a heartbeat.
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