Real Life Child Abduction

11 year old Jaycee Dugard was abducted whilst walking to school by a couple who kept her for 18 years, during which she had 2 kids before being rescued. It’s a parents’ worst nightmare which we naturally don’t want to think about, but by studying this horrific case, we can learn how bad guys operate which enables us to make our own kids safer. Fortunately Jaycee has recently published her book A Stolen Life detailing her ordeal, which contains some important safety lessons.

As I’ve previously written about Jaycee Dugards abduction on my blog in much more detail, I won’t repeat the full article here, but will summarise the highlights:

1. Teach your children to stay away from a car that pulls up near them. Jaycee approached the car of Phillip and Nancy Garrido, who seemingly had stopped for directions, which is when they tazed her with a stun gun! This wouldn’t have happened if she’d simply stayed a body’s length away from the car, a distance from which a conversation about directions could easily be had.

2. When a bad guy tells you to be quiet, that’s a hint to make as much noise as possible!
One of the 3 things a bad guy doesn’t want, is to get caught, so if you or your child is given an instruction to be quiet, he’s subconsciously telling you that he’s feeling vulnerable and that this could be your chance to shout and scream.

Personal Defence Readiness not only deals with physical self defence skills, but also teaches practical and actionable psychology of the bad guy.