Teach kids to run, yell

Nearly 800,000 children are reported missing yearly. That's an average of 2,185 each day, or about two children every minute.

"We can't be with our child every minute," says Judy Curran, coordinator of children's safety outreach programs for Western New England College in Springfield, Mass., which holds an annual national conference on children's safety.

"Children need to learn effective self-defense skills against abusers and sexual predators. Armed with just a handful of hours of safety education, children can be an integral part of stopping violence," she said.

"Decisions made in the first few moments can drastically change the outcome."

Curran stresses that it's not enough to inform kids about potential perils.

Information must be followed with solutions to the problems. With young children, every safety concept must be followed with an activity to reinforce the concept.

"Children should be taught to yell, run and to defend themselves if someone tries to grab them," she points out.

"They need a foundation of safety education to build on for the rest of their lives."

"Too many of us see violence against children as an unfortunate but inevitable part of life," Curran said.

By involving kids in their own self-defense, however, children become empowered and learn to replace the fear, confusion and panic of dangerous situations with confidence, personal safety skills and self-esteem.

Parents should check if their local schools or other organizations offer well-established self-defense programs for children.