Parents! Please teach your children how to get help if they get lost. I volunteer at a huge zoo and today discovered a lost child quietly crying in a corner. I was close by, but he didn't come to me and I don't know how long he had been there before I spotted him.
Please teach your children that if they get lost in a store or other public place to go to "someone who works there" to get help. Show them how to tell who the employees are, uniforms, nametags, etc. Practice with them on occasion until they have it down pat.
Both this child and his parents were panicked, but the terrified time could have been shortened if he just knew how to get help quickly! Once I found him he was reunited with his parents within minutes.
I totally agree. When I was a child in the 1950's, our school sold ID bracelets with our name, address, city, state, telephone number and parent's name engraved on ot. I wore that bracelet until I was old enough to know how to be safe , information to tell authorities if I was lost.