Biking 100 miles for missing kids
Susan Massa of the New Hartford TA signs posters for the children before the bike ride begins. Massa was one of about 80 NYSUT riders. Photo by Steve Jacobs.
The line stretches for nearly two miles. Riding two-by-two, 416 men and women, many of them NYSUT members, are a blur of water bottles, bicycle spokes, and white, pink and turquoise jerseys.
Sayeh Rivazfar, a 29-year-old New York state trooper, was among the riders who pedaled 100 miles on May 15 to raise awareness and funds for child-safety education. At 8 years old, Rivazfar and her 6-year-old sister, Sara, were kidnapped by their mom's boyfriend. He brutalized the children and left them for dead. Sayeh survived the attack; her sister did not. [Learn more about Sayeh's story.]
For 13 years the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Mohawk Valley branch has hosted the Ride for Missing Children, a fund-raising and education awareness event. NYSUT is a corporate sponsor.
"It's important that all children live and learn in a safe, healthy environment," said NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi. "The Ride for Missing Children does excellent work toward that end, and NYSUT is very proud to support it."
Iannuzzi also gave credit to the staff from NYSUT's Utica Regional Office for all of their support for the ride, including Director Fred Monaco and Robert Welch, a labor relations specialist who rides every year.
Pinned to every rider's jersey is a picture of someone's daughter, or son, a brother or sister ... a child or adult who has vanished into thin air.
One of those pictures is of Audrey Herron.
"She was a nurse in Catskill. She left work at 11 p.m. and never made it home," said Audrey's sister-in-law, Stacy Herron. "She has a husband and three kids. It will be seven years this August."
Stacy Herron, a speech language pathologist at Schodack schools, completed her sixth Ride this year. She learned of the event at a missing person's day in Albany shortly after her sister-in-law's disappearance.
The Ride is as much about telling the stories of the missing as it is about educating kids on safety and prevention. It's also about hope and healing for the families dealing with the tragedy of a missing-person case.
"It helps me feel like I'm doing something to try to find my sister-in-law, and to help prevent any future abductions," said Herron, a member of the Schodack Faculty Association. "It takes away that feeling of helplessness." Herron is the coordinator for the Sept. 25 Ride in Albany.
Lisa Buske, a member of the Mexico Academy Central Schools FA, also draws strength from the event. Her sister, Heidi Allen, has been missing since April 1994.
The sisters are from a teaching family. Their mom, Susan, and two aunts were all educators in Mexico schools. At the time of her disappearance, Heidi's mom said Heidi hoped to become a teacher or counselor.
"The Ride is special because all the people who plan, prepare and ride set aside their lives to show their love for the missing and to save other children," Buske said.
It's also an important fundraiser. The money raised is counted in posters as every dollar represents four posters, four chances to notify the public of a missing person.
"Between my wife and me, we were able to raise 4,800 posters ($1,200)," said Chad Reese, a fifth-year rider and member of the Madison Central School Teachers Association.
"For a small, rural district it just says a lot. Probably 90 percent was raised by the kids K-6 for the Pennies for Posters program. They knew that every quarter that was brought in went toward posters being made."
Reese rode alongside his wife, Kelly, a second-grade teacher. This year marked Kelly's first Ride.
For weeks leading up to the event, educators including Nancy Zumpano and Lynn Hall, members of the Clinton TA, work with students to prepare for the event.
Zumpano and students from the school's honor society assembled hundreds of bagel sandwiches for the riders' breakfast stop at Clinton Elementary School.
Hall, an art teacher, helped students make the signs and posters for the massive morning pep rally at the school.
Education is a major component of the ride.
Holland Patent schools hosted a building-wide assembly to reinforce safety rules for the students, said first-grade teacher Pat Yaple, a third-year rider.
"I want to make sure that I can help get information to kids to be a little more safety conscious," Yaple said. "It's like preventative medicine."
Debra Tompkins, a first-time rider from Whitesboro, did mini-safety lessons for students while the school's physical education teachers made the connection between the Ride and healthy, active lifestyles.
On Ride day, cyclists passed by and visited several schools along the route. One stop featured a local duo, The Dinner Dogs, performing their safety hit "Take a buddy along."
"The song reminds kids of the three safety rules: Check first. Take a buddy. And No, Go, Tell," said Deborah Haeger, a volunteer coordinator working with families of missing children during the event.
Child safety education and abduction prevention has shifted from the "stranger danger" lessons, Haeger said, and more toward awareness and getting out of situations that make children feel uncomfortable.
Haeger, through the Peaceful Schools organization, teaches character education and conflict resolution skills at schools throughout central New York.
According to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, 20,414 missing children reports were filed in New York last year. Only one was a confirmed stranger abduction case.
Another important change is the handling of adult and college age missing person cases, thanks in part to a grieving family-turned-staunch advocates.
Mary and J. Douglas Lyall's daughter, Suzanne, was last seen 11 years ago exiting a bus at the University at Albany campus where she was a student.
"When she first went missing five agencies had taken reports but nobody was sharing information," said Mary Lyall.
The Lyalls, who launched the Center for HOPE in Ballston Spa, and have had key pieces of legislation passed, including a federal law raising the age from 18 to 21 for immediate investigations for a missing person to begin.
"A missing person, no matter how old or young, is always somebody's child," said Herron.
Check out a Flickr gallery from the biking event
10 tips to prevent child abduction
Eric Stalloch, a science teacher in the East Syracuse-Minoa School District, has long been interested in martial arts. Stalloch, along with retired school superintendent and Retiree Council 12 member Clifford Crandall, recently launched a Web site devoted to self defense for children and adults.
"We sometimes take for granted that children possess the ability to make good decisions regarding their own safety," said Stalloch, a member of the East Syracuse-Minoa United Teachers. "Each child needs to be taught this information, and they must be reminded of it often before it becomes common sense to them."
What follows are 10 tips for educators and parents to help keep kids aware — and safe.
1) Know the family car
Many children cannot accurately describe their family's car. Expansive parking lots make this knowledge crucial for the safety of small children. Identify a permanent landmark near where you have parked and have a specific picture, sticker, or other item in the car's window. One way to teach children to recognize the family vehicle: have them draw and color a picture of it. Be certain to point out the make, color and number of doors.
2) Identify helpers
Children should know that police officers, firefighters, security and mail carriers are people they can turn to for help. These individuals' distinctive uniforms make them easy to identify.
3) Store or mall safety
Especially during the holiday seasons, stores become very busy. With so many people shopping and so much to see, a child may become separated from you. Teach your child to remain in the store and look for the person who runs the cash register. The clerk can help and usually has a microphone for important announcements.
4) Know your way home
A child within four blocks of home should know how to find it. You can practice this by taking walks with your child. Likewise, you can test whether a child knows where they live by driving a mile from your home, driving back by a different route, stopping within 1 ½ blocks of your home, and asking them to lead you home.
5) Play the landmarks game
One way to teach children how to find their home and to be aware of their surroundings is to play the "landmarks game." Ask your child to identify five things they will see on their way home. These could include a gas station, a distinctive tree, a store or a particular colored house. By interacting with you during your drive home, your child will become more aware of how to find their way home or be able to provide directions to a police officer.
6) Never go near a stranger's car
One common method of abduction involves luring a person closer to the car by using a map and asking directions. There are also situations — such as a car breakdown or a family emergency — when a parent is unable to pick up a child. Here it helps to have a code word known only to the parents and child. In an emergency situation, the parent can tell the person who will pick the child up what the code word is.
7) Never let a stranger into your home
Young children are more vulnerable to a stranger's request to use the phone because of an emergency. Remind them that the door should remain locked to all strangers — even those who say they are police officers. Any child home alone should know a phone number to call in case of emergency and have a place they can go to for safety if they become afraid and need to leave the house.
8) Never take ANYTHING from a stranger
We teach our children not to take candy from a stranger, but a child could just as easily be lured away by free movie tickets, balloons or toys. Remind them of the rule, "to help a big person, find another big person."
9) Don't stay with a group of friends who aren't following the rules about safety
If peers aren't being careful, the child should warn them, then leave and tell their parents about what happened. This can be difficult for a child. Peer pressure associated with "fitting in" and not "tattling" is very powerful. Taking the time to discuss this topic with your child, especially as they grow older and gain more independence, is important.
10) Know how to break free if grabbed by someone
While avoidance, awareness and refusal skills are a child's first line of defense, every child 12 and under should know how to break free if they are grabbed. A number of excellent books and magazines can assist you in educating your child. Whatever techniques you choose, the added strength and belief that they can do this will depend on how often you practice and the positive reinforcement and praise you give them.