by DianeD

Created on: January 03, 2009

Teaching Safety Procedures to a Child

Parenting is a full-time responsibility and since most households have working parents, spending the time to address child safety issues is sometimes put on hold. Too often however, that discussion is too late.

Family Watchdog, an internet child safety site, is free to use and filled with valuable information. Simply insert an address with a city and state and the criminal offenders in the area of the address will be revealed. Considering that most sex offenders will be released from prison at some point and live in society; parents have a right to know where they live.

A child coming home alone to an empty house is a welcome sign to a child predator. Many after school programs are available inside the school or at a city building. Some churches also have a facility that can care for children until the parents are off work. Daycares also supply buses that will pick children up directly from a school. If a child is old enough and responsible enough to carry a house key and go home alone, make sure they understand they must lock the doors at all times. Most criminals will watch a house for a long period of time before they attempt to enter. They will wait until a child becomes complacent and then approach the home.

If an appointment with a plumber or other repairman has been scheduled, be sure a parent is home at the time of the appointment. Never expect a child to deal with business appointments. In fact, children should never open the door to an adult if they are home alone.

When children are home alone, teach them not to tell anyone who may call that they are alone. Simply have them take a message or tell them not answer the phone at all. An answering machine can easily pick up the call.

Schools are generally very strict in the area of dress codes. However, each generation of children will develop their own since of fashion. Children need to dress appropriately for their age. Thirteen year old girls who could pass for eighteen are asking for trouble; parents need to set some hard and fast rules.

Children of all ages need to be taught to be aware of their surroundings such as: noticing parked cars that are not usually in the neighborhood, being able to identify cars that are parked at school that never pick up a child of their own, and noticing cars that are always passing by slowly when children are walking home. The driver of the car, man or woman, may be scoping out an area to see where children live or assessing which children

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