Almost everyone in Bow Island knows Byron Hryciuk though some might not know him by name. He is that friendly stock boy who packs your groceries at the IGA then helps you cart them out to your vehicle. But, one has to wonder if anyone would have gotten the opportunity to know Byron if he hadn’t made a critical decision seven years ago, one that may have saved his life and certainly saved him and his family severe heartache and stress.
When Byron was 12-years-old, he was home alone with his older brother, 16-year-old Michael. He was upstairs rummaging in the kitchen looking for a snack when the doorbell rang. He answered the door, leaving the screen door shut and locked while he spoke to the stranger standing there.
The man told Byron that his mom had asked him to pick him up and take him to a friend’s birthday party. Though the story sounded legitimate, Byron had a feeling something was wrong. He told the man he’d be right back, shut the door, then quickly phoned his dad.
His dad told him not to go with the man and then called him mom. His mom called the police.
Meanwhile, Byron got his older brother, and by the time they got upstairs and checked outside, they saw the stranger driving away.
Later, police identified the man as a pedophile out of Calgary. They said it seemed likely the man had targeted the boys somehow and saw they were home alone.
“Constable Wainright said it seemed like a planned abduction,” Byron said.
Though stranger abductions are rare, they can happen anywhere, even in the County of Forty Mile, even in a generally safe and secure town like Bow Island.
Sgt. Greg Squire with the Bow Island/Foremost RCMP said there are several strategies that will help keep kids safe.
“It’s good to know about stranger safety,” Squire said. “Sometimes it’s the simple things like not putting your kid’s name on a license plate on their bike or their back packs.”He said this prevents strangers from being able to address a child by their first name, creating a sense of familiarity that makes statements like ‘your mom said you should come with me’ more believable.
“You have to have strategies,” Squire said, reiterating some pedophiles will lure kids by asking them to help them find missing dogs. “There is a major highway going through Bow Island.”
However, sometimes the biggest danger to a child’s safety isn’t a stranger, but rather a friend of the family or even a relative.
“We all believe that it takes a community to raise a child, but you have to make sure you know who your neighbours and friends are. And, with the Internet, you have to know who is being invited into your home. Is it the kid down the street who goes to the same school as your child? Or is it an adult in another city, one who will try to identify your child then lure him or her out?”
As with many things pertaining to a parent/child relationship, Squire said communication is the key.
“If I can stress anything, it’s communication,” Squire said. “Watch for warning signs. If your child is deathly afraid of a baby sitter or a relative, talk to your child and find out why.“This town is generally a safe place, but we have to work to keep it that way.”Home alone strategies include teaching children not to say a parent is out, but rather to say mom and dad are busy right now, then take a message. Also, children don’t have to answer the door when they are home alone, and they can be taught that is okay. And if the worst thing does happen, and someone grabs them, teach them to fight back, to make noise, to scream and yell and, as Squire said, to create witnesses. They should learn to scream ‘this is not my dad’, or ‘this is not my mom’.
He added the officers do talk to kids about stranger safety when they visit schools or when children visit the office, and they will come and do so anytime at a school’s request, perhaps partnering with FCSS to bring more strategies forward. They can also speak to groups of parents who want to learn more strategies to help keep their children safe.
“There are a lot of dangers out there but there are a lot of good people out there too,” Squire said. “We can help parents review safety tips so they can take preventative action.”