Over the past five years, we’ve seen an uptick in hate crimes against minorities, especially against Black families. Indeed, violence is up. In 2018, it was reported that Black Americans are victims of hate crimes more than any other group. With an increase in hate crimes comes an increase in violent attacks. A few months ago, a white woman in Iowa almost ran over a group of Black and Hispanic children just “because they were Black.” In March, a Michigan man pleaded guilty to using racial slurs while hitting a teenager in the mouth with a bike lock breaking the boy’s teeth because he said that Black people have no right to use the public beach at the State Park.
Sex Trafficking Too
In addition to the rise in hate crimes violence, there is a rise in kidnappings associated with sex trafficking. Many of these abductors take photos of your child and place the photo on the dark web or the deep dark web for bidding. If they get a bid high enough, they will follow the child for days learning everything they can until one day they are gone. The price for a human trafficking victim is reported to be an average of $21,8000 per person. “The US cities where human trafficking is most reported per capita are Washington DC, Atlanta, Orlando, and Las Vegas.”
How To Protect Yourself and Your Family
When it comes to self-defense there are five things that I advocate families to have and must do.
- Purchase a Ring doorbell (record everything)
- Install a dashcam (again record everything)
- Get interior cameras at home (once again, record everything)
- Keep bear spray or pepper spray in your car out of the reach of children but where you can get it.
- Teach your children self-defense starting at age three.
Number five is important because there are things that your child and you can do to possibly thwart an attack.
What To Tell Your Child
Since the rate of violence is on an upward swing, the most important thing is to plan and train your child on what to do before something happens. It’s just like a fire drill, you don’t wait until there’s a fire to figure out how to get out. Practice but don’t scare your child. It’s a parent’s job to make sure they feel safe. Instead of saying, I’m teaching these things to protect yourself, tell your child that I’m teaching you this to empower yourself.
Check out the infographic for tips to keep you and your children safe.
Infographic provided by
AGS, Inc. 
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