7 Smart Ways to Protect Your Children

The danger is lurking for your children, even when they are at home. Here are 7 wise ways to minimize anything unpleasant to happen.

Alone at home: Inform your child not to tell anyone on the phone that you are alone at home. Teach your child to call you in case of an emergency. Make sure that your child is able to lock and unlock doors and windows. 

Internet: Be aware of your child’s activities on the Net. Inform your child not to provide personal information such as a home address, telephone number, or school name online. Highlight to your child that the person he is talking to may not be who he claims to be. Never allow your child to arrange for a face-to-face meeting with anyone without your permission. According to an article, Smartphone Pictures Can Give Away Your Location. Taking a photo of your innocent child taken with your smartphone and post it online is risky because people can trace the location where the image is taken.

Public area: To avoid abduction educate your child not to accept things from strangers and not to allow others to touch you. Teach your child not to do anything alone. Ignore the adult who approaches you for help, It can be a trick. The person should get help from another adult. The best thing to do is for your child to run away to a place with a lot of people.

On the road: Never leave your child alone in the car even for a short while. Be aware of another car bumping into yours at isolated spots; it may not be an accident. Drive on to avoid untoward incidents.

Technology: If your child is using an iPad or iPhone, you can locate the whereabouts of your child. You can monitor if he or she is on the right route to their destination. When your child is at a different location be alert and find out why.  Find out more about Apple’s iCloud to locate your devices at Find my iPhone, Ipad, and Mac.

Communicate with your child: Be open and approachable so that your child will find it easy to talk to you.  Tell your child that he can talk to you about anything and everything   Listen, believe and trust what your child tells you.

Educate your child: As soon as children are learning the body parts, you can introduce the right vocabulary for their private parts such as penis, vagina, breasts, and buttocks. Dr. Ian Russ, Ph.D., says that "If children don't have the vocabulary to talk about their body parts, then if something happens they can't tell anybody. They know that it's off-limits to talk about. They can't get help." By telling your children the right words to use they will feel comfortable telling you should something bad does happen to them.

How do you protect your child?