The world we live in can be a very scary place for parents of any age children. Each year children:
- Are born with injuries
- Fall and get cuts and bruises and broken bones
- Get into accidents biking
- Are in car accidents
- Get lost
- Eat things that are poisonous
- Choke on small objects or food
- Get sick with the flu
- Unwittingly share personal information online with predators
- Are victims of crime
The list of potential hazards for our children is endless and daunting. The good news is that most child injury is preventable. Even serious crimes against children are most often preventable with safety precautions.
Here are some proactive ways you can keep your children safe:
Prenatal Care—safety for children begins in the womb. Take your prenatal vitamins and do not drink alcohol or do drugs during pregnancy. Exercise and eat right. Avoid serious birth injuries like a medical mistake causing cerebral palsy or fractures by discussing your risks and birth plan with your doctor.
Safety Equipment—always use appropriate child seats in cars. Never let a child under the age of 12 ride in the front seat facing an airbag. Insist your children wear bike helmets. Make sure your home is equipped with working smoke alarms and childproof outlets and cabinets that store chemicals and medications.
Health—be sure to follow your pediatricians recommendations for immunizations and take your kids to regular physicals. If they are ill always be sure they complete the antibiotic cycle even if they start feeling better. Teach your children good hand washing habits and basic first aid.
Self-defense—teach your children how to defend themselves. If they get lost in a public place like a store give them a plan to follow such as looking for a police officer or employee to ask for help. A backup plan might be looking for a mom with young children. Teach them to always scream and fight back if a stranger tries to grab them.
General safety—make sure your children learn their full name, their parents names, address and phone numbers as early as possible. Sign them up for swimming lessons and teach them rules for water safety. Practice how they can respond in various scenarios like being lost, getting hurt or caught in a fire.
Online safety—do not let your children be unsupervised on the Internet. Insist on having all their passwords even when they are teenagers and regularly check their facebook and other social media accounts. Teach your children to never give out personal information online such as their address, school, full name or phone number.
Crimes—most crimes against children are avoidable. Scrutinize who they spend time with and don’t be afraid to refuse to let your children spend the night or spend time at homes where you are uncomfortable. Avoid having your children’s regular schedule well known—particularly if they come home alone from school. Make sure they have a safety plan and know how to call 911.
While it is important to be vigilant in keeping our children safe, we also do not want to take away their childhood or innocence. Always give children safety information without scaring them. And remember, repeat safety information regularly so they’ll quickly remember it if they should need to
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