A parent’s greatest fear is knowing their child is in danger. It is a helpless feeling of pure terror, and it is one all parents hope they never have to feel. Because of the imperfect world in which children live in, sometimes there are safety dangers that cannot be prevented. However, teaching your children the basics of safety can help them avoid dangerous situations, as they are alert and aware of what is going on around them.
Many parents are afraid of scaring their children by teaching them how to react in an emergency situation, but keeping them uninformed them leaves them more vulnerable to danger. For the well being of your children, here are three safety basics all children need to know:
1. Home Security
Having a home alarm protects your home and your children from burglaries, break-ins, and dangers like fires and carbon monoxide poisoning. If you have a home alarm, explain to your children the purpose of the system and what to do if the alarm is triggered. If they are old enough to stay home alone, and the alarm is accidentally triggered, it is important they know the security code to turn it off.
However, emphasize the importance of keeping that alarm code safe. Additionally, if your children are home alone and the alarm is triggered, even if it appears to be an accident, if your children at all feel unnerved by the situation, stress to them the importance of telling the police those feelings.
If you are looking for a home security system to install, ask for recommendations from friends or family, or check out a company like Home Security Providers.
2. Strangers
While children are often very trusting, they also have incredible intuition and can usually read suspicious behavior. But, without knowing the proper rules of stranger danger, kids might ignore their feelings of suspicion and interact with a stranger they should not. Teach your children the basic of stranger danger, and teach them what type of behavior in adults is distrustful.
Emphasize that while a child can always ask a stranger for help, specifically an official or someone in charge, a stranger should not be asking for a child’s help. When it comes to child abductions, one of the number one tools kidnappers use to their advantage is asking children to help them look for a lost puppy or something similar. If this scenario were to happen, teach your children that they should ignore them and get away from them as quickly and loudly as possible.
3. Fire Safety
Teach your children that in the case of a fire, they should not hide; rather, they should stop, drop, and roll. Hiding can make it more difficult for a fireman to find them, whereas being in the open and attempting to head toward safety can save their life. Additionally, be sure to check annually if your smoke detectors are in good working order.
Teaching your children how to be smart about danger can keep them safer than trying to protect them by not teaching them at all.
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