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By
Catherine M. Pruissen
The
most important think we can do for our kids as they
head out to play this spring/summer season is to teach
them so very basic streetproofing tips.
At
an early age children should be taught:
- Their
full name
- Their
age
- Their
telephone number
- Their
address
- How
and when to dial 911 or operator
- How
and when to dial a parent or relative.
Define
clearly what a stranger is . . . anyone your child
does not know. There are "good strangers"
and "bad strangers". Since children cannot
recognize the difference they must learn to treat
all strangers the same and follow the rules:
- Do
not talk to strangers (despite tricks like asking
directions, offering candy, lost pet, etc.)
- Do
not take anything from a stranger (candy, food,
money, toys
- Do
not go anywhere with a stranger (riding in a car,
walking, entering a house, etc.)
Teach
children that if a stranger bothers them:
- To
make a loud noise by yelling (help! stop! go away!)
"no" is not enough
- To
run to a safe place and tell someone what happened
(school, store, office, Block Parent, library, bus
driver, etc.)
- Not
to hide (in "hide and seek").
Play,
walk and ride safely. . .
- Stay
with a group, never walk alone
- Avoid
unsupervised areas like vacant lots and buildings,
construction sites, wooded or busy areas, creeks
and riverbeds.
If
someone follows a child they should:
- Get
a description if the person
- Get
a description of the vehicle
- Get
a license number
- Run
to the closest safe place (listed above)
- Turn
around and run in the opposite directions (it takes
time for a vehicle to get turned around)
- Tell
you about anything they feel uncomfortable about.
Parents
and caregivers should:
- Keep
important telephone numbers by the phones
- Familiarize
children with safe places in their community
- Provide
adequate supervision and do not leave a child unattended
even for a moment
- Do
not display a child's name on clothing or backpacks,
etc.
- If
a child gets lost in a store, go to the nearest
cashier
- Become
a Block Parent and encourage others to do the same.
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©
Catherine M. Pruissen
Catherine M. Pruissen is the CEO of About Child Care
Consumer Services and developer of child care online.
She has published numerous child care related literature,
including Start and
Run a Profitable Home Day Care, The
Daycare Alternative, How to Find Good Child Care,
Caregiver Aids: Business
Forms for Caregivers and Parents, Income
Tax & Record Keeping for Child Care Providers,
and a host of workshops and workbooks. She was the editor
and publisher of the bi-monthly newsletter, Parent Care,
Your Child Care News-line. Catherine was also the coordinator
and workshop facilitator for The Child Care Information
Centre in Calgary, Alberta, and ran a successful dayhome
for eight years. |
