Home
>
Parenting
>
Childrens Safety in Public Places - 10 Useful Tips

Childrens Safety in Public Places - 10 Useful Tips

My kids ask me all the time to take them to playgrounds or any other public place. I can't help to think that the risk involved in this is greater than we are often aware of. I have four kids, which makes the task of keeping track of everyone very stressful. To me, taking my children to a public place is not "a walk in the park" anymore. Actually, I feel that I am a little traumatized. My 8 year old son, (a very active little guy), has been lost 3 times in public places. Once in a huge department store at the age of 3, another time in a natural park where he took off in his bicycle by himself at the age of 4 and the latest time in a crowded public fair at the age of 5. Fortunately he has always been found save and sound.

Small children are very unpredictable. Their logic is very different from ours. They tend to forget the importance of staying close to you and they get distracted very easily.

How many times have you taken your kids to a playground and suddenly you don't see them anymore, you start looking for them and your heart starts pounding. Luckily you finally see them playing away unaware of the panic attack you just had. It all happens in seconds but it seems like an eternity until you finally see your precious children again. But for how many parents this is not the case? How many of them never find their child who was just beside them a minute ago? Who had just been seen playing in the playground a second ago?

What can we do as parents to prevent such a tragedy from happening to our family? The best thing we can do is to be prepared and to take certain simple precautions and do our best to prevent this terrible thing from happening.

Each and every time you go to a public place with small children take these 10 tips in consideration:

1. Remind them of the importance of staying close to you and always to inform you to where they are going. This may sound very simple but the best way not to loose your children is to have them close to you at all times.

2. Teach them the importance of keeping a safe distance with you. If they cannot see you, they are not in a safe distance anymore.

3. Choose a meeting place that you know they can remember in case they do get lost. If the children are too small, it might be a better idea to tell them to stay in the place where they realized they were lost. Most of the time you are not too far away from them. But if they start looking for you, it makes it a lot more difficult to find them.

4. If you are in a mall or a department store, identify the staff's uniform and security guard's uniform with your children. Ask them to look for them if they happen to feel lost.

5. Teach them not to talk to strangers. It is unfortunate that we need to teach our children to avoid talking to strangers, but the truth is, with today's world, it's not safe anymore to let your children talk freely to a stranger.

6. If your children are old enough to memorize phone numbers, go through the basic family information such as the home phone number, your cell phone number and your address. Also, give them some change in case they need to call you from a pay phone.

7. Memorize the clothing they are wearing. If it makes it easier for you, put on similar colours in all of your children. During a panic attack you feel confused enough to even forget what your child is wearing.

8. Place a card in one of their pockets with all of the basic information: Your name, your child's name, phone number, cell phone numbers and address. Even if the child is able to memorize this information he/she will panic as well and they could forget it all. Do not place this information in a visible spot as an abductor could take advantage of this to create a familiar atmosphere calling the child by his own name. Also it's important to avoid any piece of clothing containing your child's name.

9. Choose books from the library that teach kids why it's so important not to talk to strangers and after you have finished reading, take some time to discuss the content with your children. You could ask them questions to make sure they understand the message. You can also play the "what if" game and let them figure out what to do in a certain imaginary dangerous situation.

10. Last but not least, talk to them about the dangers that a small child has these days. Unfortunately, we have to give our children some tools to defend themselves in the case of an attempt of abduction. They should know what to do so that they can act quickly. They should not converse with any stranger. If the stranger insists in talking with them, they should leave immediately and ignore the person. They should not volunteer to give any information or directions to a stranger. They should also know about the tricks abductors use to attract a child. They could use a cute puppy, or ask them to find a lost puppy. They could use delicious candy or attracting toys. They could appear to be very friendly or they could even look like adorable grandmothers.

During the first time my son got lost in the department store, I kept thinking of all the things we should have done to prevent this from happening. When he was finally found I thought this would be the first and the last time this would ever happen. I was so frighten by the idea of loosing my child again that I did very little to prepare him for a similar incident. When it happened the second time, I realized the importance of having a plan in place. I also realized that fear doesn't take you anywhere. You need to act before it's too late. Once your child is lost, he is on his own. If he hasn't been prepared to face this situation, the only hope you will have is to trust in his own ability to find you. Nothing can guarantee that our children won't get lost. But if at least your child has a way to help himself when you cannot help him. This could pretty well safe his life.

My name is Mia Dominguez. This is my first article. I have always been interested in writing but have never gone "public" with anything until today. I wrote this particular article in the hope that my experience can help other parents in keeping our children safe in today's world. I hope many of you will find it useful. I strongly believe that keeping a family together is one of the most important things in life and in today's society. God, my dear husband and my 4 children are my highest inspirations.

My husband and I work together from home on different internet projects. You can go to our eBay CD store at http://stores.ebay.com/alberto2000colour

Also you can check our web page at http://stores.ebay.com/alberto2000colour

God Bless.

express cleaning service Arlington Heights ..

In The News:

The ClickFix campaign disguises malware as legitimate Windows updates, using steganography to hide shellcode in PNG files and bypass security detection systems.

Researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University designed a 21-foot dome that combines aquaculture and hydroponics to create a self-sustaining urban food system.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

ChatGPT data breach exposes personal info of users through partner Mixpanel. OpenAI confirms names, emails compromised in security incident.

Android rolls out Emergency Live Video for 911 calls, letting dispatchers see real-time scenes during emergencies. Great for holiday travel safety.

Malicious Chrome and Edge extensions collected browsing history, keystrokes and personal data from millions of users before Google and Microsoft removed them.

Google's new Call Reason feature lets Android users mark calls as urgent before dialing, displaying an urgent label to recipients using Phone by Google app.

Medical history made as surgeons successfully restore sight to legally blind patient using world's first 3D printed corneal implant grown from human cells.

Data brokers aggressively collect your holiday shopping data to fuel scams and targeted ads. Learn how to delete your digital profile before 2025 starts.

Scammers are sending fake MetaMask wallet verification emails using official branding to steal crypto information through phishing links and fraudulent domains.

Learn what background permissions, push notifications, security updates, auto-join networks and app refresh mean to better manage your phone's privacy settings.

Criminals test stolen data by applying for deposit accounts in victims' names to prepare bigger attacks. Learn why banks won't share fraud details.

New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

Childrens Safety in Public Places - 10 Useful Tips

Parenting