Smart Safety: Halloween Tips

Halloween is a fun-filled time for kids and parents alike, but it is also a holiday that requires a mindset of being safe. Today, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children  and Honeywell Inc. (NYSE:HON) are teaming up with Nickelodeon actress, Tia Mowry, to launch KidSmartz™, a new program that aims to keep kids safe on Halloween and all year-round.

 

According to the FBI, police received more than 400,000 reports of missing children last year in the United States. KidSmartz is a personal safety program that educates parents, teachers and other trusted adults and law enforcement about preventing abduction. The program empowers kids in grades K-5 to practice safer behaviors in ways that are fun, innovative and easy-to-implement.                                                                                                              

 

Through the use of videos and engaging animations, KidSmartz helps teach critical safety information to children. The foundation of the KidSmartz curriculum focuses on the four rules of personal safety:

 

1.       Check First

2.       Take a Friend

3.       Say “No” and Find Help

4.       Tell a Trusted Adult

 

Parents, educators and other trusted adults can find instructional resources such as free classroom lesson plans, take-home printable materials for families, safety checklists and engaging and animated videos to empower kids to practice safer behaviors and reinforce the four rules of personal safety.

 

KidSmartz reinvents the concepts and methods developed in 2005 for the “Got 2B Safe! Think Smart and Take Charge” program, Honeywell’s first nationwide classroom-based child abduction prevention program for third-graders launched in partnership with NCMEC. This fall Got2BSafe! will be expanded to impact even more children thanks to the next generation of the program — KidSmartz.

 

To encourage educators to utilize the site, teachers who download the KidSmartz Education Toolkit will automatically be entered for a chance to win a $250 gift card that can be used for purchasing school supplies. Drawings will take place once a month through the end of the year.

 

The KidSmartz curriculum and related materials are available for download at www.KidSmartz.org. For more information, check out KidSmartz on Facebook and Twitter.

 

About Child Abduction

According to the FBI, more than 400,000 children were reported missing last year in the United States. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has analyzed more than 9,000 abduction attempts and found that many: involved a suspect driving a vehicle; occurred between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; occurred when the child was traveling to or away from school or a school related activity; or involved girls and children between the ages of 10 and 14. The more you know about abduction prevention, the better protected your child will be.

  

About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is the leading 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working with law enforcement, families and the professionals who serve them on issues relating to missing and sexually exploited children. Authorized by Congress to serve as the nation’s clearinghouse on these issues, NCMEC operates a hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST^® (1-800-843-5678), and has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 196,000 children. NCMEC also operates the CyberTipline, a mechanism for reporting child pornography, child sex trafficking and other forms of child sexual exploitation. Since it was created in 1998, more than 2.9 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation have been received, and more than 124 million suspected child pornography images have been reviewed. NCMEC works in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. To learn more about NCMEC, visit www.missingkids.com. Follow NCMEC on Twitter and like NCMEC on Facebook.

 

About Honeywell Hometown Solutions

KidSmartz™ the “next generation” of Got2BSafe! is part of Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the company’s corporate citizenship initiative, which focuses on five areas of vital importance: Science & Math Education, Family Safety & Security, Housing & Shelter, Habitat & Conservation, and Humanitarian Relief. Together with leading public and non-profit institutions, Honeywell has developed powerful programs to address these needs in the communities it serves. For more information, please visit http://citizenship.honeywell.com/.

  

About Honeywell

Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes, and industry; turbochargers; and performance materials.  For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywellnow.com.