Stone Harbor Child Tag 2013Nothing can be more frightening for parents or their children when suddenly a child becomes disoriented on a large, crowded beach and cannot find the family beach blanket.  Stone Harbor’s “Child Tag” program helps identify children and reunite them with their parents in a quick, efficient manner.

“The Child Tag program in Stone Harbor has proved to be a very efficient tool to help children become reunited with their parents on the beach”, said Stone Harbor Beach Inspector Supervisor Megan Russ.  “Parents love them because it is a free service offered by the community that provides peace of mind in the event a child becomes accidentally separated from his or her parents during a day at the beach”.

Each summer the Stone Harbor Beach Inspectors offer free Child Tags to families that can be affixed to a child’s bathing suit much like a traditional beach tag.  The Child Tag contains a special number that corresponds to information provided by the parents at the Stone Harbor Beach Tag Booth.  If a child becomes lost on a beach and is wearing a Child Tag, an adult can simply notify any member of the Stone Harbor Beach Patrol or any Beach Inspector.  The number on the tag will identify the child and accelerate the process of reuniting the child with family members.  The same tag can be used each season for children who frequent the Stone Harbor beach; current records date back to 2006 for children who are registered with the program.

Parents are simply asked to provide basic information to the Beach Tag Booth including the child’s name, date of birth, parent or guardian name, date of birth and social security number, the family local address and phone numbers, and other essential information.  The Beach Tag Booth will keep that information as long as the parents ask them to do so.

For more information on the Child Tag program, please visit the Stone Harbor Beach Tag Booth located at 95th Street and the beach or visit www.stone-harbor.nj.us.