Photographed and uploaded by User:Geographer A summer crowd of LA Zoo, on August 7, 2005 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When I was very young, my parents took me to the Los Angeles Zoo along with my brothers. I don’t recall how old I was – perhaps 7 or 8, but I wandered away from my parents to investigate a grass fire I had seen in the distance. Fortunately there was a security guard there who took me to the security office where my parents picked me up. I was lucky nothing bad happened to me.

I don’t think child predators are more abundant today, but I do think we are more aware of their presence. But whether the danger of losing your child at a crowded amusement park is from a child predator or some lesser problem, when you lose sight of them, it is a very unpleasant feeling. You might flag down a security guard to give a description and suddenly realize you don’t remember what he or she was wearing, how tall he is or how much he weighs. You are too upset for that.

With today’s technology, a photo of your missing child can be delivered to police as well as many others instantly.

One of the things I do at the entrance to every amusement park or crowded festival we visit is to take a digital photo of my boys with my smart phone. I try to have them line up in front of some permanent fixture which will show exactly how tall they are on that day and what they were wearing.

Child safety photo

This photo can be sent to the security guard’s or police officer’s cell phone and from there it can be sent to a station to be turned into a color flyer.

They used to complain about the routine after it got old to them. Then I explained to them why I do it. Now they willingly comply. It doesn’t take that long and costs nothing. It’s digital. Delete it at the end of the day.

Related articles

• It’s The Tat That Brings Kids Back! (cryptogon.com)
• Tips to Help Your Child Self Rescue When Lost (safetyfirstpps.wordpress.com)
• 10 Ways to Save at your Favorite Amusement Park (savings.com)
• Child predators stalking your mobile uploads (news.com.au)
• Cell Phone Number Bracelet (todaysmama.com)
• Sad Memories, Overprotective Impulses, and Keeping Things in Perspective (freerangekids.wordpress.com)
• Can GPS help prevent another missing child? (news.cnet.com)
• Staying safe on amusement park rides (news4jax.com)
• Overheard on CNN.com: Face on milk carton chipped away at our innocence (news.blogs.cnn.com)