Every mother and father wants to make sure that their kids are kept safe no matter where they are. No matter if they are at home, at school, at work, at the supermarket, at the park, or on the way to or from any of these things, these worries simply cannot escape you. Listed below are tips and advice to parents on how they can better take care of their families and keep them safe.
Fire-proofing the house
Fire-proofing is done in two ways: the first is to try and prevent fires, and the second is to mitigate the risks of a fire. For instance, blocking outlets with plastic covers will prevent very young children from being electrocuted by them. If a fire does break out in your home, the two best things to have are a fire extinguisher and an exit plan. With luck, both will ensure that your family gets out safely.
Creating a contact system between family members
While this is not nearly the problem it was 10 years ago since every kid and their dog has a cell phone that you can use to reach them, it’s still important for the family to be directly connected in the event of an emergency. You should also make sure that your kids have contact information of people whom you trust so that if they need help and for some reason you cannot be contacted, they will be able to get help from that trusted person.
Become a better driver through a defensive driving course
Every parent is understandably cautious while driving with their families, and the best way to reduce risk is to take an online course on defensive driving. Such a course will teach you how to approach situations safely and logically and can make you a better driver. It might also do you a world of good to encourage your driving-age children (if you have any) to take the course as well so that you can give them an early advantage in terms of smart driving.
Improve your family’s nutrition
This is a more long-term safety issue, but keeping your family healthy should be a huge priority for parents. Not only does eating out pack on the fat really well (if you go to the wrong restaurants anyway), it really does a number on your wallet. If you can spare the time, a good home-cooked meal can serve your kids well down the road.
Encourage your family to do more things together
A good family environment inherently requires that the family love the environment they are in. As such, you should try to sit down and establish activities and events that the whole family can enjoy. No matter if it is watching the game, baking, board games, video games, or whatever!
Teach your kid how to protect themselves from unwanted predatory behavior
A lot of kids growing up in my generation were taught things like “stranger danger” – essentially, the idea of staying away from strangers, or the idea that a stranger interacting has an inherent suspicious element to it. Nowadays, the whole idea is kind of unfortunate, as it taught kids the wrong message since so many of these kinds of crimes are committed by people the victim knows.
Keep the guns as far away from the kids!
Now this one is a biggy, and something that any gun-owning parent should be taught: any guns in the house must be, without exception, inaccessible to your children. Children do not know how to handle guns, and it is an all too depressingly high number of deaths that result from this. Taking some extra money to lock up your guns and the extra effort to make sure they stay locked up can save your family’s life.