Safer Actions, Safer Places, Safer People
We can't keep ourselves, let alone our families, completely safe. With germs, natural disasters both predictable and otherwise, accidents, injuries, and unpredictable people...
But we can keep our families and ourselves safer and this lens is all about things you can do, large and small, to help your life run more smoothly and safely. I hope to include lists and links to things I find that can help you and yours live healthier, safer, better lives.
And if you are of a mind to try it, check out the "being nice" lens I made about trying to raise compassionate, social children. Because I think our best defense and support system is the people around us.
Devoted to Safer Children
In Memory of the Children
- Visit the Polly Klaas Foundation website (a link to their lens is below) and learn about the important work they do.
- Notice the pictures of the children and abductors on milk cartons, mailing inserts, flyers and billboards. You might be the one who finds someone's lost child!
- Keep a current photo of your child in your wallet and by your phone. Note their height and weight on the back so you can give their description information quickly to the authorities if you need to.
- When my children were little and we went to places with lots of people I put them in identical T-shirts. That way if we got separated from one, I could point to the other and say, "he's wearing the same thing." Also made it easier to locate them if they wandered away but were still close enough to see.
- Don't publish your children's full names and ages or schools. Used to be, grandmothers proudly clipped newspaper articles for scrapbooks when a child won an award or made the principal's list in the paper. Nowadays, with internet predators able to read the local news as well as personal websites it makes it all too easy to find potential victims.
- Make every moment count. All families have hard days and arguments, but think about what you want your children to know if they are abducted, or if something happens to you: you love them, you love them, you love them. And you will love them forever. Kiss them goodnight in the evening, and goodbye when they leave for school.
- I briefly worked with people who were escaping domestic abuse. Many of these survivors had children who were also in danger. If you are trying to protect your children from an abusive partner/spouse, your local women's shelter is the first step. Some states also have programs in place to allow a person to access many services (which often require residence information) without disclosing information that could lead an abuser to them. The women's shelter will have information about any programs like this in your area.
websites about safety
CNN.com - Special Reports - Family Safety
This CNN page has links to articles and websites, more...0 points
New Amazon Standard
Signs of Safety: A Solution and Safety Oriented Approach to Child Protection Casework
Amazon Price: $23.04 (as of 12/06/2009) 
The Big Book of Safety for Young Children (FE 7959)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/06/2009)
Learn to Swim: Step-by-Step Water Confidence and Safety Skills for Babies and Young Children
Amazon Price: $10.20 (as of 12/06/2009)
Keeping Teens Safer
What to do when they start doing things on their own.
Because now they are old enough to be left pretty much unsupervised for extended periods. Though not yet driving (old enough, just not pushing the process), they have a good bit of independence with their bicycles and friends/other parents.
The elder one, in high school, now has after-school activities. Since we don't live in the town, we trust him to walk to his pick-up location at a bookstore after his activities are over. The other days, we trust him to ride the bus to his grandparents' home (which is a much shorter ride for him and has the advantage of letting him get to know them).
The younger teen, still in middle school (sometimes called a junior high), has activities, but is almost always picked up and delivered because it is not in the city. Still, we occasionally let him hang out in town with friends, which can be nerve-wracking all on its own.
What do we do?
We have current pictures of the boys in our wallets and at home.
We make sure they have a working cell phone (the pre-paid, no text-messages, uncool type) whenever they are going to be in town on their own.
We constantly check to be sure we know where they have been, where they are, where they are going; and we make sure they know our schedules as well.
We know their friends, and when possible, their friends' parents.
We talk about internet safety, and monitor computer time.
We talk about drugs, about sex, about needing to be leaders rather than followers.
On the intrusive-parenting side, occasionally we walk into their rooms and just look around, to be sure things are in order. The children know we do this!
And we try, very hard, to let them know we love them and we are available to them at any time -- for any reason. If they go to a friend's house and there are drugs or alcohol -- or they just don't like what is happening, we will pick them up. Any time. Even if our own child has done something he is not proud of, we will make sure he is safe first (and then decide on disciplinary measures).
I know there are more good ideas out there... but this is what we do, and so far it is working for our family. What works for you?
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by stidmama
I am a mother, spouse, artist, gardener and (very poor) housekeeper.
I also recently returned to college to pick up prerequisites for a Master's...
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