Personal Safety: What Should Your Child Know?
When children are very small they are rarely out of the sight of their parents or caregivers. When we think of their safety, it is usually in terms of car seats and choking hazards, steep stairs and too-tall play structures.
When they turn the corner from toddlers to preschoolers, things start to change. We stop following right behind them at the playground. They don't always want to ride in the cart at the grocery story (and some of them have gotten too big!). If they stray out of sight for a few brief moments we don't worry too much. We scan the area, we peer down the adjacent aisle and there they are, absorbed in play or in gazing at the cookie shelves.
These kinds of moments should not alarm us (they are absolutely to be expected). But they should be our cue that it is time to start teaching our little ones a few personal safety basics.
To begin, make sure your three-year-old knows:
His/her full name
His/her parents' full name and/or caregiver's full name
The name of the town where your family lives
His/her street name
His/her house or building number (and possibly apartment number)
A parent's cell phone number
And that your kindergartner knows:
His/her parents' second phone number
How to use a phone (this needs practice)
How to dial 911 in case of fire or emergency
Which neighbors he/she can go to in case help is needed
Which stores in the neighborhood to go to in case help is needed
Learning about safety needs to start early. Sometimes we are reluctant to begin this conversation with our kids because it makes us feel anxious (or course it does!). But put these initial lessons in the context of learning about your neighborhood, and it all becomes a lot less scary.
What information do you think your young children should know?
More from The Savvy Source:
• Five ways to make outings easier for special needs children.
• Teaching your child to draw his world: Map making for the very young.
• Ten outdoor things every child should do before they're too cool to do it.
• The people are what make a neighborhood special.
