How do you know when it is the right time to have the safety talk with your
kids? That’s a trick question. There is no one safety talk to have with your
kids. It is a series of talks and lifestyle choices. There is also no singular
time to have these talks. Safety is an ongoing concern that starts in the womb.
It never stops. That said, here are some of the topics, times, and techniques
for these teaching opportunities:
Home Security
Home is where the heart is, and the stereo, and the family jewels, and the
computers… In other words, home is the place where you keep your stuff. It is
also the place where one should feel most secure. When your child is old enough
to understand the value of home, you should start teaching them how to protect
it.
Without even explaining what you are doing, you can start a ritual of taking
the children with you in the evening as you make your rounds to secure the
house. You can even make a game out of it as you lock the front door, the back
door, check the windows, and arm the alarm system.
Even bucolic parts of the world like Bend, Oregon need to be protected with
the latest security methods.
ADT in Bend
Oregon is one of the many affordable ways to add extra protection to your
home even when you are not there to look after things yourself. Kids are
naturally curious. So as you take them on the rounds, they will ask questions.
It is a natural teaching opportunity. Basic security will become a part of
their ritual that they can pass on to their kids when it is time.
Personal Security
When your children are very small, their personal safety is entirely on you.
They have no part to play in it, because there is no part they can play. Before
a child can be responsible for their own safety, they have to understand the
concept of danger. Once they do, they can begin to take an active role in their
own personal security.
When they are old enough to start leaving the house by themselves, they need
to already know about thinks like crossing the street. This is the sort of
thing you can teach them as you take them on walks when they are young.
They also need to be made aware of the difference between friends and
strangers. Teachers, neighbors, friends of the family, police officers: these
are the kinds of people they can trust as opposed to people they don’t know.
It
is a mistake to teach them to trust and obey all adults. That’s the last
thing you want them to do. The personal safety of your children begins with
them knowing who they can trust. That list should never bee too long.
Data Security
You would think that you could put off conversations about data security
until they are in their teens. But that is simply not the case. Data security
becomes an issue the moment your kids are old enough to have data that can be
exploited. You want them to carry emergency numbers and the home address with
them at all times in the even they wander off and get lost. But you also need
them to know how and when to use that information so that it doesn’t end up in
the wrong hands.
Once they have an email address and the ability to text message, they likely
carry enough personal data for your family identify to be stolen and exploited
by thieves. Their smartphone that they are most certainly going to lose at some
point needs to have fingerprint unlock, preferably even something with
encryption strong enough that
even
the government can’t break in.
Home security, personal security, and data security are the main topics of
the security discussion you need to have with your kids. Just remember that
discussion is ongoing, and probably should have already started by now.
