Rating: 
Summary: ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to ALL Parents!
Review: Gavin De Becker has compiled a very thorough, interesting, readable, and *essential* guide to keeping children safe in our world. While there are parts of this book that may be unpleasant to read [nobody likes to read about bad things happening to children], it will instruct and prepare parents to keep their children out of harm's reach. I found the book very empowering and have already implemented many of his suggestions. This book also reduces fear in the sense that it helps parents seperate common yet improbable fears [child abduction by strangers] from the very real fears that they may be turning a blind eye to [like molestation by a family member]. It helps parents understand what they need to do to prevent this kind of tragedy and yet also helps them seperate 'media hype' from reality. I am extremely glad to have found this book and read it and I feel that my children are far safer because of it. If every parent would read this book our world would be a much safer place for children!
Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to ALL Parents!
Review: Gavin De Becker has compiled a very thorough, interesting, readable, and *essential* guide to keeping children safe in our world. While there are parts of this book that may be unpleasant to read [nobody likes to read about bad things happening to children], it will instruct and prepare parents to keep their children out of harm's reach. I found the book very empowering and have already implemented many of his suggestions. This book also reduces fear in the sense that it helps parents seperate common yet improbable fears [child abduction by strangers] from the very real fears that they may be turning a blind eye to [like molestation by a family member]. It helps parents understand what they need to do to prevent this kind of tragedy and yet also helps them seperate 'media hype' from reality. I am extremely glad to have found this book and read it and I feel that my children are far safer because of it. If every parent would read this book our world would be a much safer place for children!
Rating:
Summary: If you care about kids, you should read this book!
Review: Gavin De Becker's new book is a valuable and important extension of his excellent "The Gift of Fear." I teach high school psychology and had my classes read TGOF, which proved to be an eye-opening, empowering tool for teenagers. "Protecting the Gift" expands on these ideas by specifically focusing on child and teenager safety. While I agree with some minor criticisms that the new book repeats some older material, the repeated material is worth hearing again, and the new book provides the most thoughtful and specific advice I have heard on how to talk to children about self-protection. As I new parent, I am grateful for De Becker's instructions. My own parents are wonderful, but as I suspect is true of the vast majority of families, they never talked to me as a child about how to recognize, prevent, and report sexual abuse--or how to trust my intuition and say no to adults in any number of questionable circumstances. By teaching us how to engage in this dialogue, De Becker is doing the public a great service!
Rating:
Summary: If you want to protect your kids - this is the book to read
Review: I admit there were some aspects of this book that illicited a fair amount of fear, but don't let that stop you!! The main point being, once you are aware of the dangers you are better equiped to handle the situation should it arise. I love the fact that De Becker stressed the use of the parents INTUITION and empowered parents to ACT on thier intuition even if it may "seem" irrational. Because of this book I am able to talk to my kids effectively about staying safe and how to avoid having them walk around in a state of fear (stranger danger etc), but have them feel strong and confident enough to deal with a "worst case senario".
The information and research he presented about who the abusers are and how the pretators "prey" on children is something every parent should be aware of and its all here in this book.
Many parents get stuck in the "it wouldn't happen to my child" mind set, and the subject of child abuse is too awful to even think about- which is unfortunate because you can't protect your kids if you don't know what the most likely dangers are. There is no question that this book will help it's readers become SKILLED PROTECTORS of thier children.
Rating:
Summary: Should be required reading
Review: I agree with the Amazon review that this book can be terrifying, but it is necessary. Once you get past this only then can you gain the knowledge that you need to keep yourself and your child safe. Where I do not agree with Amazon's review is when it says that these things "rarely occur." While stranger abduction rarely occurs, sexual abuse among children is sadly VERY common and if unprotected, too likely to occur to our children. This book really debunks some long held myths and shows you signs to look for. It will help you protect yourself and teach you how to show your child to protect herself/himself as well. Sadly, I've recommended this book to countless friends, only a handful are willing to read it. Some are afraid to confront their biggest fears, others are cynical stating "It's only common sense, why would I pay $10 to read that!" Then I ask them "Should your child talk to strangers?" They always answer incorrectly and I tell them they should just cough up the $10. Your child's safety is priceless. $10 is an AMAZINGLY low price to pay to educate yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Another smashing success for Gavin De Becker.....
Review: I almost gave this book four stars, but only because it has a few flaws, where De Becker's THE GIFT OF FEAR was not only flawless, but taught me more than any one book has ever taught me. Still, this is a powerful book. I read it without stopping for sleep, so I can assure you that it is indeed well written.De Becker shows parents and other adults every facet of possible victimization of children and how to avoid it. When he is teaching his readers, which is always, he uses brilliant examples that we can all relate to. Take this as an example: "I would ask which is sillier: waiting a moment for the next elevator, or placing her child and herself into a soundproof sterel chamber with a stranger she is afraid of?" Succinctly, he teaches, in that one sentence, so much. How many times have all of us pushed ourselves into an elevator with someone who made us afraid? De Becker's challenge is to empower us as parents, and empower us he does, just as he empowered us in THE GIFT OF FEAR. He instructs us all on using our intuition to make life or death decisions. I can still recall a time when my son, then just very small, and I were staying at a luxurious hotel. We went to the top-floor pool and walked right into a burglary. How I managed to get myself and my son out of there calmly and completely is a testament to De Becker's lessons on the incredible strength of a mother whose baby is threatened. De Becker teaches us all new ways of thinking and new ways of being and new ways of protecting our children and ourselves from abuse, abduction, violence, crime. De Becker's appendices are worthwhile, too, with listings of excellent books and important organizations. This is a book I would recommend to anyone who loves a baby, child, or adolescent.
Rating: 
Summary: Must Read ALL Parents
Review: I give this now to all expectant parents. This book is life-changing. As a mother, it posed questions that I have never thought of asking. I now have the guts to ask what is most important in keeping my son safe. deBecker gives parents 'permission' to be assertive parents.
Without frightening us deBecker brings to our attention what we need to know to keep our children safe. He focuses on our instincts and his discussions make such obvious sense.
I'm at the airport posting this review and looking forward to my long flight now that I have this book. Halfway through I simply cannot put it down. Just like my delicious cup of s o y f e e. It's a coffee substitute that's been helping me ween off caffeine since my doctor mentioned it. Made from soy it even lowered my cholesterol. Look for it online at www.s o y c o f f ee.com. Oh, gotta run or I'll miss my flight!.
I have started to give this book as a gift to every new parent I know.Excellent excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Procrastinate!
Review: I hate reading anything that makes me feel anxious and initially this book sat on the shelf for weeks before I actually picked it up. I was so glad I did because there is such valuable information in here and I actually feel better about my child's safety than I did before. Protecting the Gift: Keeping Children and Teenagers Safe and Parents Sane is about how to teach your child to trust her instincts when it comes to safety. Since 90% of child abuse and abductions occur by people well-known to your child, teaching her to talk to strangers just doesn't work. Instead, the author gives you detailed and logical steps to take, starting as early as toddlerhood, so you'll know how to help your child learn to follow her instincive feelings about whether someone is safe or not. Crucial information about how to be prepared for (God forbid but we should all be prepared just in case) the event that your child may be seperated from you in public. Examples include making a daily detailed mental note of the clothing your child is wearing, keeping large photocopies of your child's picture and name in your purse/wallet so you can hand them out to security personel within seconds of your child's disappearance and an action plan for immediate implementation. There is SO much in this book - every bit of it worth reading so you can protect your child - and I can't recommend it strongly enough. Read it NOW and be prepared.
Rating: 
Summary: Biased
Review: I'm glad I read this book as it supports the protective role of mothering (I'm tired of being called overprotective!), though I'm not sure I would go out of my way to recommend it to others, for a couple of reasons. It's not bedside reading, and I finished the book feeling slimed by the tales of violence and human degradation. But this didn't bother me as much as the feeling that I was being mildly patronized by the author, my tour guide through the rings of hell.
Also, the author purports to be writing an objective book, yet he clearly has an (moral and political) agenda, including a letter to gun manufacturers in an appendix, yet side-stepping the issue of whether children would be safer if fewer mothers chose to work outside of the home during the early years.
Rating:
Summary: Amazon says "a terrifying book"??
Review: It's like that reviewer missed part of the point: being too fearful ADDS to danger; it doesn't reduce it. That's part of what sets this book so far apart from the others: it's not jam-packed with fearmongering horror stories. This book is the most sane, research-backed, well-written guide to keeping our children safe I have seen. It is so difficult to find the medium point between being appropriately cautious and living in paranoid fear. This book details clear, simple steps I can take to enhance the safety and wellbeing of my children- and myself- in all sorts of situations, today and in the long term. I am so thankful.
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