Speaking to your children about safety is something that you cannot begin doing “too soon.” The topic of safety is crucial to learn as early as possible and is usually one that continues to be brought up all throughout their lifetime.
Teaching your children how to live their life while always considering safety is a great first step into the direction of giving them a healthy sense of independence. As a parent, it is always hard to see your children grow up, but discussing safety will help them learn about their own freedom.
When talking about your child’s safety, it can get complex and complicated. Keep reading to dive further into three areas of safety: in your home, in the community, and personal safety. By reading through some lessons you should consider teaching your kids, hopefully some will stick and you’ll be able to implement them starting today to ensure your child is living their life more safely.
Keeping your Home Safe
Your house is the one place in the world where you want to keep everyone and everything inside as safe as possible. It is also the place where you let your guard down the most. It probably feels normal to not hover over your children while home, because why would you? It is likely that your kids definitely reciprocate that attitude and probably don’t even consider things like “how do I maintain my own safety right now” while in the comfort of their own home.
Good lessons you can teach your kids is that no matter if you’re home or away, they are to never open the door for or talk to strangers. Go a step further and add that they are not to answer for anybody. Life gets complex, and creating the expectation that your children shouldn’t let people into your home, regardless of who they are, is a good rule.
Teaching your children the basics like knowing important information is a really good tip as well. The basics would be any beneficial phone numbers, how to contact 911, and their own address in case there’s a life-threatening emergency.
There are steps as a parent that you can take to prioritize your kid’s safety at home. A few things you could do is install a security system. These systems will not only protect your children by giving you remote access 24/7, but they also serve to protect your home. You should also consider changing your locks if your home was recently purchased. This blog is a great resource for understanding the reasons on why this tip is useful.
Staying Safe in the Community
Making sure your children are safe in the community follows some of the same guidelines as it would in the home – teach your kids not to talk to strangers, know important contact information, and so on. A few steps further would be to role play different scenarios that could occur in public.
It may sound extreme, but playing out scenarios of what could actually happen if things went wrong in public could be a matter of life or death for your children. This goes for situations like kidnapping to scenarios like earthquakes, tornados, or fires.
Maintaining Personal Safety
Personal safety is arguably the most important lesson you can teach your children. It will be the thing that your child will apply to all settings – private or public. As previously mentioned, safety is an ongoing conversation and this aspect will be important the older they become.
Nowadays, social media is very prevalent and poses a major threat to the safety of those who use it. This blog on online presence even says that, “nearly 80% of burglars use social media to target their victims.” Teaching your children how to engage with others on social media, to vocalize their concerns, and always keep in mind the personal effects of social media-based interactions is a great way to keep them safe.
More Useful Resources
Pop-A-Lock has created loads of helpful tools to guarantee your family stays safe beyond the safety related conversations you’ll have with your kids. Along with this blog, you can find other useful pieces on how to ensure your home is secure as well as a handy security audit. This security audit will help you identify areas of your home that are susceptible to burglars and secure your home a step further in the event that you will ever need to rely on those measures to keep you and your family safe.
And, if you find yourself in need of a home, car, or personal safety revamp, your local Pop-A-Lock is here to help!