Home
If
you could make one place a safe haven for your
children, where would it be? For many parents,
the answer is their homes. Yet research shows
more than 4.5 million children are injured in
the home every year.
Taking
simple prevention measures and closely supervising
your children can help protect them from common
household hazards, such as fires, burns, drowning,
suffocation, choking, firearm injury, poisoning
and falls. A few easy, relatively inexpensive
steps – locking household cleaning materials
in a cabinet out of reach, installing carbon
monoxide detectors and smoke alarms, blocking
stairways with baby gates – can greatly
reduce your child’s risk of injury in
the home.
Kid Safety Checklist
What You Can Do To Protect Your Child's Safety
Outside
Before
sending your child to school or to a friend's
home, go over this list to make sure you're
doing everything to keep your child safe.
Have
you taught your child to recite his or her name,
address and phone number? Sometimes putting
the information in a simple song may help a
child remember.
If
you must send someone else to pick up your child,
do you have a secret code word? Does your child
know to always ask for that code word (while
standing a safe distance from the vehicle) before
getting into anyone else's car?
Does
your child understand that he or she should
never get in a car with anyone but Mom or Dad?
We also recommend you read Linda Girard's Who
Is a Stranger and What Should I Do? with your
child to explain the concept of the "kind"
stranger and the stranger who is not a child's
friend.
Does
your child know not to get into cars or go into
the houses of neighbors he or she doesn't know
very well? (Go over a list of acceptable neighbors.)
Have
you explained to your child that, if lost or
in danger, he or she can locate a pay phone
and dial 911? Children should know that they
do not need money to call 911.
Does
your child know to never use a public restroom
alone?
Does
your child know that it is okay to say "no"
to adults?
Does
your child know to be as loud as possible if
he or she is in danger?
Does
your child know that it's okay to use physical
violence, such as kicking, if he or she needs
to protect himself or herself from harm?
Does
your child know to never exit an area (such
as a store or a mall), even if the person helping
asks him or her to step outside?
Does
your child know what to do if he or she is separated
from you in a public place and how to identify
a low risk adult? Read I'm Safe! at the Mall
with your child to explain those concepts to
him.
Does
your child know to approach a police officer
if he or she has a problem?
Does
your child know to approach uniformed personnel
if he or she is in danger? Can your child identify
employee uniforms?
Does
your child know the body parts that are unacceptable
for others to touch? My Body Is Private teaches
your child the boundaries for physical contact.
Does
your child know to shout "no" or "stop"
if someone touches him or her inappropriately?
Does
your child know that you trust his or her instincts,
and that even if your child makes a bad choice
with an innocent stranger, you will support
him or her?
Does
your child understand that even trusted people
shouldn't ask him or her to do something that
makes him or her uncomfortable? Only 1.4 percent
of abductions are by total strangers!