Keeping your children safe from physical and emotional harm requires proactive planning. Safety guidelines must incorporate common household situations and events as well as less common, but equally dangerous, situations and events in the outside world. While this may require you to face some of your own fears, KlaasKids says this knowledge will empower both you and your child and may be what ultimately saves his life.
Household Safety
Household safety requires forethought and vigilance to create and maintain a safe home environment for your child. Take steps to prevent injuries that, according to KlaasKids, claim the lives of more than 3,000 children each year. Childproof your home using the age of your youngest child as a guideline. Steps you can take include installing gates on stairways, latches on cupboards, safety covers on electrical outlets and window guards on windows. Hide electrical cords and drawstrings from curtains and blinds and make sure to keep items such as cleaning supplies, plastic bags and medicines in a locked cabinet your child cannot reach.
Outdoor Safety
Swimming, biking, playground equipment and outdoor sports safety guidelines include outfitting your child with equipment designed to prevent injuries, "how-to" instructions and parental supervision. According to KidsHealth, bike injuries cause more than 300,000 children to visit emergency rooms each year. Protect your child from head injuries whenever she rides a bike or a skateboard by requiring her to wear a helmet with the chinstrap fastened. Consider adding elbow and kneepads for biking, playing on playground equipment and outdoor sports such as soccer or T-ball.
Water safety guidelines include constant supervision that, according to KlassKids, means you should not engage in any activity, such as talking on the phone or reading, that may distract you from watching your child. Provide life jackets rather than water wings and talk to your child about the importance of a swimming friend.
Enroll your child in swimming lessons. Sign him up for soccer, T-ball or softball lessons to provide instruction that make the sport more enjoyable and safer.
Neighborhood Safety
Street-smart children are safer children. According to KlaasKids, street-smart education involves both you and your child. Instruct your children to always let you know where they are and to never go anywhere alone. Teach your child about strangers. Although it may be tempting to use the blanket statement, "do not talk to strangers," this may do your child more harm than good. Instead, talk to your child about "safe" strangers, such as other children, uniformed police, store clerks or mothers with children.
Find out about sex offenders that live in your area. Websites such as the U.S. Department of Justice and National Registry Alert provide a variety of ways for you to locate registered sex offenders in your community and neighborhood. Use this information to create and show your child the routes you want her to use when walking to and from school, stressing the importance of walking against the flow of traffic and avoiding shortcuts or walking through alleys. KidsHealth suggests pointing out safe spots, such as a trusted neighbor's house, a store or restaurant or fire station your child can go to if she needs help.
Finally, teach your child what to do in case of an emergency. Instruct her to scream, yell and run away if she feels threatened in any way. Make sure your child knows how to use the telephone to dial 911, and as KlaasKids suggests, once your child reaches the age of 10, consider giving her a cell phone to use in case of an emergency.
Member Comments