Published: April 27, 2008 11:10 pm      

Q&A: Mark Sanders discusses 'stranger danger'

With child abductions and near-abductions in the news on a daily basis, the idea of “stranger danger” is a hot topic on parents’ minds these days.

On April 21, a 13-year-old girl told police she was waiting for her school bus on West Avenue near Bright Street about 8 a.m. when she saw man in a silver or gray car wave at her as he drove by.

The driver, described as a white man in his 20s, parked in a nearby driveway and got out of his car. Frightened, the girl ran from the scene.

The man reportedly looked for the girl in the area around a nearby building, then drove off.

Lockport Police Community Liaison Mark Sanders has been teaching kids about “stranger danger” at city elementary schools for the past three years.

The presentation, usually incorporated with Bicycle Safety Week, provides kids with information about dealing with strangers.

Sanders said the program will be incorporated along with the new i-Shield Task Force, a partnership between the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department and several law enforcement agencies, including the Lockport Police Department.

The task force, part of the national program i-Safe, Inc., is meant to educate young students about staying safe while using the Internet.

Sanders said the April 21 incident has sparked more awareness in the community about the importance of such programs.

“Now, because some of the teachers and principals are asking, next year, it’s probably going to be a little more comprehensive,” he said.



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Question: What do you teach the students about safety?

Answer: We teach them never to approach a vehicle or speak to strangers in vehicles, never go with any strangers for any reason. Pretty much, we teach them how to ... flee when they feel uncomfortable or scared. If somebody puts you in a situation, if somebody makes you uncomfortable, you just run. Just run. That could be kind of a mantra we use, called, “No, go, yell and tell.” If somebody asks you to go with them, you say “No,” you leave, you yell as loud as you can, then you go tell a trusted adult. All these things are presented from kindergarten to fifth grade, so far.

And, we also tell them about certain rules at home, as far as not answering the door if your parents aren’t home. Not telling people that you’re home by yourself. Also, empowering kids. We teach them how to respect adults, and to listen and obey adults, but we teach them that they have permission to tell an adult “No” if there’s something that breaks the rules or that makes them uncomfortable. They have a right to tell an adult “No.”

So, just rules like that, kind of driving them home in a fun way. We use pictures and slides. They’ve talked about, “Well, what if someone tries to grab you?” And I tell them, and this is from police training, we teach them to scream at the top of their lungs, because usually abductors don’t like sound or attention.

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Q: The girl in this case took off running. So she did the right thing?

A: Yeah, just take off running ... and sometimes to scream. Even though in this case the guy tried to see where she went and followed behind, if she would have screamed at the top of her lungs, especially in an area like that, the guy probably just would have took off. So we teach them, scream. Yell, but running away is the best thing for them to do.

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Q: There seem to have been a lot of incidents like this in the area recently. Do you think it’s happening more often, or are people just more aware of it?

A: I think it probably happens a lot, and either the kids don’t pay attention to possible dangerous situations, or it just goes unspoken. But when it starts happening (often), people are more likely to report it to the police.

Another thing is, we have to educate adults that you don’t approach kids. I mean, the one guy (in a recent case) who, he had really lost his dog, but he was just asking kids (for help)? That’s just not a smart thing. It’s not the same as it was years ago. ... You teach adults, you just don’t approach children, or start conversations or give things to children, even if you have good intentions.

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Q: Do you think parents talk to their kids enough about this?

A: No, they don’t. That’s why we try to bring it to the schools. I think some parents feel like, “I don’t want to make my kids feel paranoid.” But no, it’s just giving them the right tools, the right information. People will think, “Oh, it will never happen around here,” but it can happen around here. We’re thinking about — and I talked to the police chief — compiling some stuff and getting some stuff that people can pick up from here, have it available on tables at schools, anything we can give home to just help parents educate their kids. We want to give them a little, but the main level of education needs to come from the parents.

... I think it’s to also give our kids a feeling of safety. I don’t want this to just be a panic. As long as they’re doing what they’re supposed to do, they are safe. I don’t want kids thinking, “I can’t go outside and play.” As long as they adhere to these rules, they will be safe. And for parents to not be naive, but be aware.

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Q: If a parent has questions, can they give you a call?

A: Of course, they can call me (at 439-6704). If parents have any questions, or church groups or community groups want (us) to come in and do a presentation ... we’d be more than glad to come in and present to any group like that.

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Q: How will the i-Safe program work with the already existing programs?

A: Hopefully it’ll be ready by next school year. ... It’s a very good program. We’re starting to see that Internet encounters are happening more often. Kids are meeting people on the Internet, so we really want to put the kids on top of this. We don’t want to wait for something to happen to get on the ball, we want to get on the ball with it now.

Contact reporter April Amadon at 439-9222, ext. 6251.