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Child Safety: Denver Expert Sounds Off On What Parents Should Know

DENVER (CBS4) - With the disturbing Jessica Ridgeway case weighing heavily on the minds of many across the Denver metro area this week, parents are probably feeling unsure of what to say to their children.

CBS4's Alan Gionet tackled that question in a Good Question report that will air in an upcoming CBS4 newscast. In the report he spoke with Dr. Abby Bleistein, a board member of the child safety organization Kidpower.

"Do you understand as parents right now how nervous we all are?" Gionet started out the interview by asking. "We're all frightened."

Bleistein said it's important for parents not to adjust the habits of children drastically in the wake of a case like the Ridgeway one. (Story Archive)

For children who walk to school, for instance, some parents might be tempted to start driving them to school instead, since Ridgeway was reportedly abducted while walking to her school in Westminster.

"So you take them to school and you drive them for a couple of weeks or a month and then you go back to normal. But what happens is it increases the child's anxiety," she said.

WEB EXTRA: Watch the complete interview with Dr. Abby Bleistein

She suggests a better thing to do is to talk to children extensively about safety and prepare them for different situations that might come up with strangers.

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