Street Proofing and Safety Tips to Help Protect Your Children

SooNews Staff for SooNews.ca
Thursday, November 5, 2009, 8:15AM

Street Proofing and Safety Tips to Help Protect Your Children:


* Remind your children to tell you where they are at all times. Tell them, their schools, their day care provider, etc., where to reach you in an emergency.
* If they are home alone, not to answer the door or if on the phone, not to say they are alone.
* Teach them to know their full name, age, telephone number, area code, city and province.
* Teach them how to contact you, or another close relative in an emergency. How to contact a trusted neighbor, police, fire or ambulance services and when to make these calls.
* If they become lost or separated from you in a public place or store, tell them to go directly to a cashier or information booth.
* To avoid situations where strangers may approach your child alone, such as an unsupervised play area, empty lots, abandoned buildings, bushy area of parks, creeks and riverbeds. Advise them to run
home or to the nearest public place, or a Block Parent home, if someone is following or frightening your child.
* If someone follows your child in a car, they should turn around and get away. Run home or to a Block Parent home or the nearest public place such as a school, store, or office. Your child should also try to remember what the driver and car looked like or its license number.
* Teach them that adults, especially strangers, rarely ask children for help in finding things, or for directions. Explain to your child that both men and women are strangers.
* That police officers who wear uniforms are their friends and that they can be trusted if your child is in trouble. It is for this reason that you should never use the police as a threat to your child. This will confuse their image of the police.
* Teach your children to trust their feelings and that they have the right to say “NO”, even to an adult
* Have a secret code word that only you and they know. They are not to go with anyone else unless that person provides the secret code to your child
* Keep your child’s current physical description and a full- face photograph (like their school photograph) in an accessible place.
* If they are being bullied or know of someone else being bullied at school or over the internet, to report it to a parent, teacher or any other adult they feel comfortable with.

General Internet Safety Tips:

* The computer should be in a central place in your home where you can supervise their online activities
* Talk to you children about their use of the computer and discuss the dangers they may encounter online.
* Children should never give anyone their name, address, telephone number, computer password, or any other personal information on the Internet without parental or guardian consent
* Children should stay out of all chat rooms and websites that are not first approved by their parent or guardian.
* Tell them to never meet with anyone that they have met on line.
* Don’t allow a webcam in a child’s bedroom
* Watch for children quickly minimizing sites they are on when you enter the room.
* Tell them to respect others and not make threats when on line.

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