How to Keep your Kids Safe?

It is very important for children to be educated about how she or he should handle any kind of emergency. As parents we always go through this confusion as to how to keep our children safe at times when we are not with them. How do we make our child so independent and confident that the child has the sense to know as to how to cross the road without getting hurt or harmed in any way?

It is important that we make our child independent. A child who is over protected by parents all the time will eventually not be able to do anything by themselves. It is natural for parents to be worried all the time about the safety of their kids. I remember my mother used to say that you will understand this only when you become a parent.

Basic tip for keeping your child safe is that every child should know his name, his parents name and where he or she lives. It is importantly for him to know the address of his or her house by heart.  As the child grows older parents must ensure they know their home phone number and the cell numbers of their parents.

As a parent I took the initiative to teach my son that he should not undress in front of any body. Parents should teach their children about good touch and bad touch and tell them about private body parts and that he should not allow even the help to enter the washroom when he is using it. I taught all these things to my son when he was just two years old and he follows it. It is important for us to explain to our child that he should not allow any body to touch his private parts and at the same time he should also not touch anyone’s private parts. Also make it a habit to discuss about the happenings of the whole day with your kids so that if there is anything that is disturbing him he can come and share it with you. As a parent it is our duty to build that kind of relation with our kids that they can come and share everything with us without the slightest fear.

Teach your child that not to obey any stranger blindly even if he or she is an elderly person. Sometimes unknown people in the malls, the gaming centers, schools and school buses take advantage of kids by saying that they are elder to them and hence they should obey them. Sometimes teachers, home tutors, bus conductors also physically abuse kids and scare them by saying that they are going to hit them hard, if he disobeys. Parents should be watchful even when the child is playing alone in the park or may be playing a game of tennis with the coach. I have been labeled many a times as an over protective mother, but my advice would be don’t listen to anybody. It is better to be labeled as an overprotective paranoid mother than an irresponsible mother who just made the kids, but did not have the time or the interest to protect them. There are pedophiles everywhere, so keep your kids safe. If your child gets lost in the mall to teach your child to inform anybody in uniform that he is lost and that they should announce his names and ask for the parents.

Teach your child to not to accept sweets from strangers. Even if a stranger comes to pick them up from school telling them that their parents have sent them, they are not supposed to go with them. While using a bus teach your kid to get down from the bus only when it stops completely. Don’t put your hand out of the window, or any body part. Sit in your seat or stand in one place if there are no seats available.

It is your responsibility to monitor your child, but at the same time make them responsible and independent adults. Guide them in the right direction and keep a watchful eye on them because it is always better to be safe than sorry.