Daily News from New York, New York • 85

ni in 1321 innnjir (stop 9m iui nk. mm By ALISON GENDAR "So you avoid the stereotypes or any racial slurs about who is a stranger," he said. A smile from a stranger wouldn't be threatening; a motion to get into his car would be. If the program comes to the city's public schools, it would be at no cost, Marquez said. Service Corporation International of Houston, owners of more than 3,500 funeral homes and cemeteries worldwide, has underwritten the cost of the program since last summer.

SCI will spend about $300,000 on the program in its first year, said company spokesman Bill Barrett. One of the local SCI funeral homes involved in the project is Thomas M. Quinn and Sons in Astoria. Robert Stuber Daily News Staff Writer It's every parent's nightmare a child was supposed to be home from school hours ago, but never arrived. No clues.

No trace. For Robert Stuber, a former cop from San Pablo, the numbers were frightening: as many as 125,000 attempted child abductions by strangers across the country each year, with an estimated 3,200 to 4,600 of these attempts successful meaning the child vanishes. The hope in these numbers, Stuber said, is that most attempts fail. So he started researching the techniques kids used to get away, wrote a book and created a program to share these strategies with parents and kids. Stuber will be holding a series of workshops in parochial schools and auditoriums in Queens this week.

But city school officials say the ideas are good enough that they want to take the program to all 1,100 public schools starting next school year. "You have to give parents more useful information than simply, 'Don't talk to In an emergency, your kid may very well have to rely on a stranger for help," Stuber said. Parents across the city know these fears. Right now, Bronx cops are searching for a would-be child abductor wanted in four failed attempts at luring young girls off the street in the vicinity of 180th St and Hughes Ave. And two years ago, Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew warned all city parents about impostors posing as Board of Education employes seeking children's medical forms information that could be used to have a child released from school.

Once again, none of the attempts were successful. But skeptical parents said they worried that anti-abduction programs might only frighten their children without providing any lasting benefits. "I don't know what good a half-hour talk can do. My kids, I tell them not to go with anybody they don't know, but if someone offered them a candy bar or a Fubu hat, they'd be off in a flash," said Rosalinda Marcado of Kew Gardens, who has two kids in public school. Stuber counters that the more students talk about these issues and learn ways to deal with their fears the less likely they will ever become a victim.

City school officials who have reviewed his program agree. "It's not filled with gory, horrific kind of stuff. It's not about teaching kids about abduction or abuse. What it is is smart ways for kids to react when faced with certain kinds of situations, and, most importantly, ways for parents to reinforce these ideas at home," said Joshua Marquez, citywide coordinator for the Board of Education's Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Program. Some of the ideas are simple, such as a child walking in the opposite direction if an adult attempts to motion him or her into a vehicle a move that forces the would-be abductor to park the vehicle or make a U-turn.

Marquez said the program, known as Escape School, would join several safety programs already in use in city schools. What was good about this program, he said, was that it teaches kids to be wary of actions, rather than scared of anyone they don't know. wM swifted) passes alto MStiuT) Sftnsott To Advertise in Beauty Fitness or Health Care Services Call 212-949-2880 DILYeNEWS Tha Most Nn Yotfc You Cm Oat i-- This change starts Sunday, March 1, and will ease overcrowding on the line.The hours and frequency of service will be the same only the trains will switch. Therefore, on weekdays trains will travel to Bedford Park Boulevard during rush hours and to 145th Street middays and evenings until approximately 9PM. trains will travel to 168th Street until approximately 1 1PM nightly.

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