Prevention

The Power of a Front Porch Project Moment

A Front Porch moment is one we've probably all had at one time in our lives. It is that moment when you see a child or family in need, but you're not sure how to help, or whether you should even get involved.

• How many times have you witnessed a parent struggling with a child in the midst of a tantrum in a public place?
• How many times have you seen an infant or child waiting alone in a completely sealed car on a hot or bitterly cold day while the parent is shopping?
• How many times have you seen a child in your neighborhood playing unsupervised in the street?

We are not only witnesses to these situations, we read about them almost every day. For example, this excerpt is from a recent newspaper article:

A group of hunters saw a young child fastened in a child's seat in the front seat of a pick-up truck out in the woods. As the hunters passed the truck, they commented to one another about how they would never leave a child in a car like that. However, they did not take action.

Consequently, the unattended child lost his life when he crawled out of the truck and got lost in the woods.

There is a lot of power in the Front Porch moments that you decide to act upon.

Front Porch moments transformed

It is difficult to predict the degree of harm that is prevented when you decide to intervene during a Front Porch moment. If the group of hunters in this story had made the decision to intervene, they might have waited with the child to assess the situation or called the state patrol for assistance. As you can see in this real life example, our Front Porch Project training would have taught these adults to follow their instincts and see the child to safety, potentially saving his life.

American Humane's goal is to teach communities and average citizens how to become reinvolved and connected with what's going on around them, so they can help protect children, even in the most subtle ways. Here are some ways people have described how they got involved and made a difference for children after attending a Front Porch training:

"'Accidentally' knocked over a store display to interrupt a parent's verbal tirade against a small, crying, and fearful child."

"Offered to pick up a neighbor's child, instead of letting the child be home alone."

"Helped care for my niece so my brother and his wife could have a day together."

"Saw a group of teens chasing a smaller child and stopped my car to observe and make sure the child was safe."

"Small things. Meeting the eyes and smiling at parents with kids acting up."

"Put flyers on doors to invite people to our community center."

"Saw a situation that looked like neglect after learning the potential signs from the training, so I called CPS so they could professionally assess if the child was in danger."

"Hosted a neighborhood barbeque to help people get to know each other."