12 Ways to Be Prepared and Keep Your Kids Safe

Today’s world is not always a safe place to be for kids. As parents, we have to be vigilant and teach our children to detect dangerous situations. We don’t want to unnecessarily frighten our children, but at the same time, we need to keep them safe.

We often rely on others to protect our children from the many challenges that exist today. But this article will hopefully show you how you can be a part of the solution to keep your kids safe.

Here’s a story that happened recently that you may have heard about. I was very sad to hear the story but I was inspired by the foresight of the parents involved. These thoughtful parents put systems into place that can also help you to keep your kids safe.

A ten-year-old girl was walking home from the park when a pickup truck pulled up beside her. There was an unfamiliar man in the truck who rolled down the window and spoke to her. He said, “your brothers have just been in a serious accident and your parents have asked me to come and bring you home.”

The girl looked confused for a moment but then said to the man, “What is the family code?” As soon as the man realized that this young girl had a plan in place, he stepped on the gas and zoomed away, thankfully leaving the young girl safely behind.

Of course, the young girl ran home and told her parents what happened. Later the police asked children in that park if they had seen a man in a vehicle. The children had seen this man. In fact, they had seen this very man drive around the park for several days! The man knew that this young girl had brothers because he had seen her play with them, over several days.

It seems that he had waited until he noticed that one day she was alone before he approached her. He was able to fabricate the story about her brothers because of his observations.

Lessons That Will Keep Your Child Safe

However, the story has an amazing lesson. Just a few days earlier, the parents decided to make a plan to protect their children. They made up a family code word that only the members of the family would ever know.

This is the essence of what they told their kids. If anyone ever approached and asked them to come or get in a car with them, they should ask for the family code. If the person did not know the code, they should never go with them.

This was a very wise plan and one that probably saved this young girl’s life. They managed to protect their children without scaring them or going into great detail about what could happen. The children had a tool that was simple, actionable and in the end, worked very effectively.

A situation that could have gone very wrong, was averted.

Have a Plan to Keep Your Kids Safe

When I heard that story, I wanted to let all parents know that today, it is important to have a similar plan in place. Every family should have a code word. Every family should know about the particular challenges of the place that they live and try to help their kids navigate these challenges.

A simple plan can keep your kids safe

We never want to scare or alarm our children unnecessarily, but we do want our children to have the tools that they need to stay safe.

So here are some things to tell our children:

If something unusual happens where your kids play or someone unusual comes, they should let a familiar adult know.

The children in this park had seen an unusual truck for several days. If they had told their parents, perhaps someone may have been able to alert the police before he was able to approach any of the children to do harm.

Tell your children that they should never be embarrassed to tell you about something uncomfortable. They should tell even if someone threatens them and tells them they will harm someone in the family if they tell.

Make it clear that it is always better to tell a parent. Tell him/her that only a parent (or trusted adult) can make sure to call the authorities who can make sure that the offender will not be able to harm others.

What is your kid connection IQ? Take this Quiz to find out

Reduce situations where children might be alone with a single adult or older child

If you must leave your child alone with an adult, let the adult know that you and your child are educated about sexual abuse. Notice if a child is uncomfortable around a particular person or does not want to be alone with them. To learn more about how to protect your child from sexual abuse read this article.

Make sure to monitor children’s internet use.

Home computers should be in public areas and phones should be monitored. Tell children that they should never give any personal information over the internet including phone numbers or email.

Believe what your child is telling you

Don’t overreact but if a child tells you that he is uncomfortable, take what your child says seriously. Very few incidents of abuse are made up by children. If a child is claiming that something uncomfortable is happening or that he/she doesn’t feel safe, make sure to follow up immediately

Remove your child’s name from articles that a stranger might see.

It is popular today to put kids names on lunchboxes, sweatshirts etc. Unfortunately, this leaves kids vulnerable. If someone calls your child by his/her name, he/she is more likely to engage with a stranger.

Accidents and dangerous situations can happen in our homes. Here are some tips to keep our kids safe at home:

Avoid accidents in the home

We all know to keep dangerous chemicals out of the reach of children as well as matches and lighters to avoid fires. However, the greatest prevention of accidents is vigilant supervision. Even when we have removed all possible dangerous objects in our homes, children have a way of climbing and being able to reach where we had never imagined.

Close supervision assures that our children stay safe. Make sure that you know where your children are when they are under your supervision. Make sure that you only leave your kids with someone that is capable of a watching them carefully.

Here are a few additional ideas to keep your kids safe:

Turn pot handles towards the back of the stove when cooking

Turn pot handles towards the back of the stove, and keep hot urns and pots at the back of counters so that a child can not accidentally touch them or pull them down. Use the back burners when possible.

Never leave a young child unattended in the bath.

If the doorbell or phone rings while the child is bathing, do not leave the child alone. If for some emergency you must leave, wrap the child in a towel and take them with you.

Do not leave basins of water (or pools) unattended in your home. A child can drown in as little as two inches of water.

Prevent electrical accidents

Use plastic plugs for outlets before you put them away. Do not leave wires on the floor where children can trip over them. Repair or replace any appliances that have frayed wires.

Have a licensed electrician install safety switches to cut off power quickly and avoid electrocution.

Prevent suffocation and strangulation

Tie knots in plastic bags and wind up curtain cords so that they do not hang within a child’s reach.

Have Emergency numbers by the phone or in view for a caregiver

List emergency numbers such as poison control and police, fire, and ambulance in a visible place or near the phone. Caregivers should be able to easily access these numbers

For these and other tips please visit this website:

Keeping your children safe is a big responsibility. I hope that some of the above tips have helped you to be more aware of the types of accidents that can happen and the dangers that our children face today. Wishing everyone the ability to safeguard their children and to raise happy. responsible and well-adjusted children.

If you have benefitted from this article please like and share with your friends!