National Child Safety Campaign Marks National Missing Children's Day

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National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Apr 27, 2010, 09:00 ET

Children's Actions Result in Escape From 83 Percent of Attempted Abductions

ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The fourth annual, national Take 25 child safety campaign will take place during the month of May in hundreds of communities across the country. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) launched the campaign in 2007 to encourage families to take 25 minutes to talk to their children about safety and abduction prevention. A website for the campaign, www.Take25.org, lists 25 safety tips that can help save a child's life. The campaign begins May 1 and continues through National Missing Children's Day on May 25. Nationwide, more than 1600 events are scheduled in nearly 500 communities in all 50 states and Canada.

Every year in America, an estimated 800,000 children are reported missing, more than 2,000 children each day. Of that number, 200,000 are abducted by family members and 58,000 are abducted by non-family members, for which the primary motive is sexual. Each year, 115 children are the victims of the most serious abductions; they are taken by non-family members and either murdered, ransomed or taken with the intent to keep. An analysis of attempted abduction cases by NCMEC found that in 83% of the cases, the child escaped would-be abductors through their own actions. Thirty-two percent actively resisted (yelling, kicking, pulling away, running away or attracting attention) while 51% recognized something was not right and responded by walking or running away.

May 25 has been observed as National Missing Children's Day since it was first proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. The Take 25 campaign will help parents and others teach children to be alert to potential threats and provide simple preventative steps that children can take to stay safe.

"We know teaching children about safety works. Children's actions enable them to escape attempted abductions more than half of the time. It is important that parents and others take the time to talk to their children about these issues," said Ernie Allen, president and CEO of NCMEC. "The campaign is designed to provide information to make it easy for parents, grandparents and others to teach their children about safety and prevention. There is no better way to mark National Missing Children's Day than with an initiative designed to empower children and help keep them safe."

The Take 25 campaign is proudly sponsored by Lifetouch, the largest employee-owned photography company in the world. Lifetouch provides professional portraits for preschools and schools, houses of worship and the retail market in all 50 states and Canada, national partners include Old Navy, a brand of Gap, Inc., a leading global specialty retailer; the National PTA, the United States Secret Service, Masonichip International, Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), and several Minor League Baseball teams. In addition, nearly 500 other local and national organizations have partnered with NCMEC on this campaign.

A list of cities where events will be held can be found at www.take25.org or on the Spanish language site, www.toma25.org.

About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Since it was established by Congress in 1984, the organization has operated the toll-free 24-hour national missing children's hotline which has handled more than 2,447,000 calls. It has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 148,400 children. The organization's CyberTipline has handled more than 842,670 reports of child sexual exploitation and its Child Victim Identification Program has reviewed and analyzed more than 33,277,300 pornography images and videos. The organization works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice's office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. To learn more about NCMEC, call its toll-free, 24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit its web site at www.missingkids.com.

SOURCE National Center for Missing & Exploited Children