YELLO DYNO – RADIO INTERVIEW

Ernie-
A typical abductor in these cases is male, certainly younger than society stereotype: 80% of them tend to be less than 35 years old. The motivation is sexual, and one of the things that I think is particularly concerning to us is that in many of these cases, society’s stereotype of the stranger doesn’t apply because many of these offenders seek legitimate access to children and literally try to entice or seduce the child to come with them voluntarily. Even in Samantha’s case the abductor tried to use the ‘lure of the lost puppy’ to get the child to go with him willingly.

Diane-
All right, and joining us now is Jan Wagner. She’s author of the book, “Raising Safe Kids in an Unsafe World.” Good morning, Jan.

Jan-
Good morning, Diane.

Diane-
Tell me how you got involved in the issue of child safety.
Jan-
I became involved 15 years ago when my son was separated from us. He was only 2 at the time, and it was several hours before we were brought back together. I realized, he has no way to get back to me;’ he was too young to think of me as anything but Mommy, and it opened a terrifying door for me. I began looking for ways to teach my children, which extended to teaching other children.

Diane-
So, you developed, what, a line of product?

Jan-
What I found was that education was the best method of bringing safety. Children today all experience a sense of angst or fear because they all know about these horrific cases of missing children. But I found there was a way to reach children, and I’ve developed a program called Yello Dyno. It’s used extensively throughout the school systems and by parents. We’ve reached over two million children.

Diane-
Tell us about that program. What does it do?
Jan-
Well, the Yello Dyno method teaches children in a non-fearful, musically driven, memory enhanced method. We teach three core fundamentals. We teach, like Ernie was saying, the stranger image is not what’s important. We teach children about tricky people, because they understand tricks. And we teach them that it’s not if a person is a stranger, what they look like or how well you know them; what matters is what they ask you to do. If it makes you feel unsafe or uncomfortable, then you take three steps back, run the like the wind, and go tell an adult you trust.

Diane-
You’ve got a song called “Tricky People” – let’s hear a little of that right now.
(song)

Diane-
Now that song, “Tricky People,” if a child hears that and takes those three steps back, in the case of some children that’s not going to go far enough, is it?

Jan-
Well, with little children it’s the idea that you implant in the child and action. Most children are like a blank slate, and what they need are patterns of action that will help them be safe. We’ve had children as young as four who have stepped out of similar situations as Samantha, and they were fortunate because they knew to get out of there – take three steps back, run like the wind. And we use music because knowledge which you normally teach – English, math, don’t cross the street – is stored in the part of the brain which actually takes second fiddle to the part of the brain which activates in ‘fight or flight’ response. So music, rhyme and role-playing are stored in the brain, which activates when a child is in a stressful or fearful situation, and these ‘hook lines’ in the music come right back to the children and they act on them.

Diane-
You know, it’s interesting that you say that because when I was way, way back in elementary school, there were regular visits on the part of the police department to each elementary school in the District of Columbia, and they taught us one song that I still remember about remembering your name and address, your telephone number, too, and where to go if something went wrong. So, I do agree with you that those memories do stick. Have you heard from families who’ve used these products?

Jan-
Oh yes, many, many, many times, and we have stories from families of four-year-olds that stepped out of situations; twelve-year-olds, and even mothers who have used the ‘three step back and run like the wind’ from having the song.

Diane-
Jan Wagner – she is author of “Raising Safe Kids in an Unsafe World”. Thank you so much for joining us.

Jan-
Thank you, Diane.