Weekend Reflections: Beware Thy Stranger ( Kids Safety Tips)
A walk down the lane
This week I read on my FB stream from Jamerican Spice about how important it is to teach your child to identify tricky people and be able to make rational judgements in time of need. On her update she quoted a passage from checklistmommy who talked about what you child should do if they were lost and how important it is to be able to identify potential dangerous individuals around us and keep far from them.
In the note it was recommended that the child should look out for a mommy with kids and seek her help if he/she got lost. The reasoning was that there would be lesser chance for him/her to be kidnapped and/or violated by such a person. There was varying opinions in the comments to that blog post however most of them were in the favor that a child would be the “safest” to seek out a mom with kids for help in such a scenario.
Besides knowing who to look for for assistance in time of need they should also be taught to beware of Tricky People.
These are
– grown ups or even big kids who ASK KIDS FOR HELP
– people who TELLS KIDS TO KEEP A SECRET FROM THEIR PARENTS ( It is not okay to keep secrets from parents. Not asking Mom or Dad = KEEPING A SECRET)
It is important to teach your child not to DO ANYTHING or GO ANYWHERE, with ANY ADULTS AT ALL, unless you have given them your permission first.
You never know if that person is a pedophile!!
My thoughts
Even if the person that the child goes off with is family, like their grandparents, I expect to be notified before they leave my visual boundaries as I know how stressful and frightful it can be if you suddenly can’t find your child within your radar. Your head fills up with wild thoughts of kidnap etc and it will send you into a state of panic. It cannot be assumed that the child does know how to take care of himself or the adult that he is with will take note of him.
Many a times I have seen some relatives of mind happily being engrossed in their shopping that they even neglect the fact that they have a child to mind. The child wanders off by himself without any supervision. If they are lucky nothing happens to the child and he doesn’t get into an accident or gets kidnapped during the 5-10 minutes that they are busy selecting items off a display shelf.
I believe in not taking chances but ensuring that my youngest remain on leash or in the pram/carrier when I have to go out with all the kids solo. They are also constantly reminded that they are not to go beyond my visual boundary or else they will risk getting severe punishment when we get home.
The kids are also taught to call out my full name and also made to memorize the Hand phone numbers of mine and R’s so that they will be able to contact us if needed.
Asking for permission before accepting things from anyone and also being truthful ( no secrets) is also practiced and encouraged.
I tell my kids that if an adult/big kid makes you feel uncomfortable they should move away and let me or R know IMMEDIATELY!!
I know that it can be a hair-raising experience for a kid to be lost and they do need to be taught how to react in such a situation.
I’m blessed that non of my kids have experienced being lost ( and I do hope that they will never have such an experience) but if they do unfortunately experience this I want them to be prepared.
How would you prepare your child for such a situation?
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