Code Phrases are Dangerous

madpenguin, I agree with your post, but just want to clarify one thing for those on this board who have children they care for:

Having a 'code phrase' for parent-okayed adults that the child doesn't know could help make this more practical (for rotary car-pooling or something.)

This is actually dangerous. It is trivial for a wannabe molestor to overhear such phrases either when they're first given or subsequently used. That alone isn't so bad until you realize that it gives kids (or teachers etc.) a false sense of security when that predator uses the code phrase. Plus these codes tend to spread out too quickly amongst people the child knows but the parent hasn't explicitly approved. This exploit has been reportedly used before to abduct children.

End of warning. :)