On November 15, 2004 nine-year old Candy McBride of Provo, Utah stepped off her school bus just as millions of American children do each day. This day was to be different, however. This day she was met with a strange man running towards her. Grabbing her and covering her mouth he attempted to abduct her just as he had abducted two other children earlier that year. Candy decided she wasn't going to be his third victim.
Punching and slapping him, while receiving some of the same in return, she managed to get free and run to her home where she told her mother what had happened. Candy never gave up and as a result of her actions, twenty-six year old Jimmy Guard is now behind bars. Candy McBride had become the 23rd child saved from abduction by using what they learned in the radKIDS program.
The radKIDS program is the national leader in children's safety. The program is brought to children and parents by nationally certified instructors drawn from their own communities. Burlington has recently become a radKIDS community with the certification of four instructors and the implementation of two one-week courses.
The Burlington Police Department certified D.A.R.E. Officers Steve Cross and Keith Sheppard along with Detective Anne Marie Browne and Sergeant Glen Mills this past April. This summer, 20 Burlington children ages eight to twelve years old took the course becoming Burlington's first-ever radKIDS.
In Burlington, radKIDS is facilitated through the D.A.R.E. program. Although it teaches Resisting Abduction Defensively, it also incorporates many other aspects of safety that children need to know to get through their days, weeks, months and years without being harmed. Things such as home, vehicle, fire and "out and about" safety as well as stranger tricks and what is and what should be done about improper touching are taught to them in such a way that they realize that they're the ones with the power to stay safe by doing the right thing. The radKIDS slogan says it all. It's about Self Realization of Personal Power.
Personal empowerment is something everyone needs in life. It's not something that comes natural to most people and should be instilled at a young age in order to give children more confidence in themselves and what they can do. This summer some of the kids came in on Monday very skeptical in their abilities but by Friday they were equal to the most outgoing people in the class in terms of self-confidence. Hopefully, this will carry through outside of the lessons.Though radKIDS is run by certified instructors, it also welcomes others who have expertise in areas that it covers. Safety Officer Bernie Schipelliti enhanced the vehicle, bus and bicycle safety with a visit with the kids and the Burlington Fire Department visited and enhanced the discussion on fire safety and home fire plans. Parents are also welcome at anytime to observe and interact throughout. The program builds partnerships and gets the message to the kids in an interactive and hands-on way. Though there are many scenarios that the kids play out, the most memorable is when they put on pads and fend off simulated abductions from an instructor (also in pads) acting as a "stranger". As one radKID put it, "Don't just tell me to stay safe, teach me or how will I know?"
Hopefully this program will be expanded so that it may be offered during the school year. Possibilities include after-school programs, scouting groups, youth groups and the like. It would also be ideal for home-schooled children as a chance to interact with students they don't normally see. It may take some doing but radKIDS is worth it and, as we've been seeing throughout the country, it works.
Since it's inception in 1998 50,000 children have been trained, more than 1600 community based instructors have been trained in over 44 states and Canada, 23 children threatened with abduction used their skills and returned safely to their families and hundreds of children spoke up and got the help they needed to stop abuse.
The two eligible age groups are 5 to 7 and 8 to 12-year olds. Once a child takes the program once, he or she can re-attend on an unlimited basis for free anywhere in the United States or Canada until their thirteenth birthday. More information can be found on the radKIDS website www.radkids.org. If there are any questions, if you'd like your child to attend the program or would like to bring radKIDS to your group or organization, contact Officers Steve Cross or Keith Sheppard at 781-270-1919 or e-mail us at officers@burlingtondare.com.
Through radKIDS training, children become empowered and learn to replace fear, confusion and panic with confidence, personal safety skills and self-esteem. Hopefully, as time goes on, more and more of Burlington's kids will become radKIDS.
Officer Steve Cross is a 22 year veteran of the Burlington Police Department. He is a certified D.A.R.E., radKIDS and R.A.D. instructor. He can be contacted via e-mail at scross@burlmass.org
