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About Michael Pouls
Over the course of nearly a decade, business executive Michael Pouls has offered a series of products designed to educate children and their families in staying safe through Kidz-IDz. In order to help children to better understand the risks in dealing with strangers and to know what to do when they become lost, Kidz-IDz offers the board game Safetyville. Mr. Pouls believes that children should learn how to be safe, but understands that in order to reach out to them, the material must be presented in a fun and non-threatening way. As such, Safetyville involves moving pieces while answering questions about general safety, including what to do when one becomes lost in a grocery store.
Michael Pouls established Kidz-IDz following extensive research on the subject of lost and missing children, inspired by a parenting test from Reader’s Digest. Learning from the President of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Mr. Pouls discovered that more than 1 million children are reported missing every year, about 1 every 30 seconds. As a consequence, Michael Pouls developed Kidz-IDz with the purpose of educating the public on children’s safety and providing the tools necessary to keep them safe, whether by preventing them from becoming lost or by swiftly responding to rescue calls with information on hand. In addition to Safetyville, Kidz-IDz offers a variety of child safety products, including a photo identity document (ID) and emergency medical card, as well as a document-based Q&A electronic ID that allows parents to file AMBER Alert Program’s alerts with speed and efficiency. To further promote Kidz-IDz, Mr. Pouls uses his position as the owner of the North American Boosters Club Association (NABCA) to educate the public on child safety.
Michael Pouls's Companies
Michael Pouls's Publications
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The AMBER Alert Program
, Michael Pouls' Blog on Bigsight
January, 2012
Mrs. Laura Bush with Rae Leigh Bradbury in Austin, Texas, at a 2007 announcement of the Texas Regional Office of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Rae Leigh was the first child in the United States to be recovered as a result of an AMBER Alert when she was 8 weeks old in November 1998.
Source: White House photo by Shealah Craighead. Posted at Wikimedia Commons.
For the past decade, Michael Pouls has operated Kidz-IDz, a firm focused on child safety. The company’s products include the educational board game Safetyville and a photo identification (ID) card that provides vital parental contact and medical information. Michael Pouls has also developed an electronic ID that helps disseminate information to authorities in situations involving the AMBER Alert Program, expediting search efforts in the critical first hours after a suspected abduction.
posted at kidzidz.com
The creation of the AMBER Alert Program was spurred by the Arlington, Texas, abduction and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman in 1996. The efforts of Amber’s parents and the larger community resulted in a network of radio stations agreeing to broadcast special alerts in cases of suspected kidnapping. The scope of this initiative spread to the Dallas/Fort Worth area and throughout northern Texas, with local law enforcement authorities becoming involved in the creation of a wider alert system.
Implementation of the AMBER Alert Program began with a Congressional bill in 2000 that facilitated the nationwide development of a dedicated abduction alert system. Three years later, President George W. Bush signed a mandate that all states deploy and maintain an abduction alert system under the AMBER Alert umbrella. In its nearly 10 years of existence, the AMBER Alert Program has assisted in searching for and recovering over 300 missing children.
Internet and mobile device communication has increased significantly since the mid-1990s, and AMBER Alerts are now broadcast on a wide range of media, including digital traffic signs, the Emergency Alerting System, and via emails and SMS notifications. As each state’s program operates as an independent entity, technologies used by specific states in employing the AMBER Alert Program vary widely. The United States Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Program and the nonprofit National Center for Missing and Exploited Children work together in coordinating AMBER Alert efforts across state jurisdictions.
The Kidz-IDz electronic ID product assists parents and law enforcement by immediately providing complete, up-to-date, and correctly formatted data in case of emergency. Having a missing child’s information already stored in a digital format cuts hours off of the process of generating AMBER Alert profiles. This is critical, as the majority of children not found within three to four hours after being reported missing are never rescued. To learn more about Michael Pouls’ company Kidz-IDz and its safety-focused products, visit www.kidzidz.com.
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Field Trip Preparation By Michael Pouls
, Michael Pouls' Blog on Bigsight
January, 2012
Going on field trips provides children with a diversion from the regular school day. Before sending your child on such an excursion, however, you may want to prepare him or her. Below, I describe some preliminary steps.
posted at skibusride.com1. Talk about the upcoming event. Discuss where the class is going and why. Help your child understand what to expect.
2. Pack appropriate food. Avoid food that will give your child discomfort, such as liquids that will cause him or her to go to the bathroom frequently.
3. Put together a first-aid kit to take along. Be sure to include cleansing wipes, bandages, and tissues.
4. Make sure your child carries his or her identification card, including a cord to tether it if you have one. Give him or her a cell phone for the trip if the school allows it.
5. Ensure that you, as a parent, understand the guidelines for the field trip. Should lunch be packed in reusable containers? Does your child need to bring any special gear?
posted at palmbeachvirtual.org
About the Author:
The founder of Kidz-IDz, Michael Pouls works to keep children safe in a variety of circumstances. His company offers a range of products to teach safety concepts and to identify children.
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From the Office of Michael Pouls: Home Alone
May, 2012
If you have determined that your child is ready to stay home alone, it means your child is becoming more responsible and independent. However, it is normal to feel apprehension. Teaching your child a few basic safety rules will make you both feel more confident.
Stage a few practice sessions before you leave your child alone for an extended period. Allow your child to stay home alone for an hour or less while you run a quick errand or enjoy a short visit at a neighbor’s house. It should be somewhere where you aren’t far away and can be easily reached.
Unless a visit is expected and approved, instruct your child to ignore knocks on the door or a ringing door bell. Tell your child not to peek through the windows. If a person outside says he has an emergency, your child should call 911, but should never open the door. Be sure your child understands how to call 911 in the event of an emergency.
Equip your phone or cell phone with caller ID, and then tell your child not to answer a ringing phone if he doesn’t recognize the number. Leave a list of safe numbers, such as family members, your work number, and the numbers of trusted family friends.
If your child answers the phone, instruct him or her to never let the caller know he or she is alone. Instead, your child should offer to take a message because his or her parents are busy. Be sure your child can reach you, or another trusted adult, by phone at all times.
Created by Michael Pouls in 2002, Kidz IDz is a company dedicated to helping parents keep children safe. Kidz IDz, at www. http://www.kidzidz.com, offers inexpensive teaching tools such as a Safetyville board game and several child identification kits.
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