Another wonderful holiday season is upon us. At Keeping Kids Safe we focus on bringing the best out in you, your children and you family.
So, in the spirit of the season we’ll bring you some great holiday safety tips over the next few weeks and hope to get some real action going on the blog and in the forum! The holidays are an exciting time of year for most of us, especially kids. We’re the biggest kids of all in our families and we celebrate with excitement and fun.
Most, if not all of our tips, are just common sense reminders for parents but still, many of these ideas in the rush and crush of things get forgotten. So, let’s start with…..Shopping!
Shopping With Your Kids
Oh boy, do we love to shop! Shopping with kids can be a lot of fun. For those of you who take your kids with you, here’s a few tips so they are safe and don’t get lost.
1. Be cautious in parking lots.
Children should stay in the car until an adult gets out first to make sure their exit is safe. Small children should hold the hand of an adult or tall teen when in a parking lot. Taller persons are more easily seen by drivers. Children of all ages should know what “back-up lights” are on a car and look outfor them when going through a parking area.
2. Make sure small children are monitored while shopping.
Full time shopping or a quick visit the local malls and shops for some last minute shopping means often times you will have your little one in tow. The sights, sounds and smells of the shops and malls with all their holiday decorations create a magical wonderland for children. This “magical wonderland” increases your child’s chances of wondering off ten fold.
If your child is a toddler their attention span is very short and most likely they may not want to stay in their stroller as you pass all those wonderful sights. To avoid this conflict have someone with you who is designated to watch the child and keep him or her entertained. This way you can accomplish your shopping with fewer distractions and headaches. In the event your child becomes separated from you take into account their height and eye level. As they look for you they may not be able to see your head in the sea of all the people but they will be able to see legs and feet. If possible, put something recognizable on your legs or feet that if your child sees it they will know it’s you.
However, it’s best to teach your child that if they ever become separated from you they should never come looking for you. Instead they should go to the closest mom with children and tell her what the problem is. A mom with
children is more likely to help your child find you than anyone else in the store or mall. If your child cannot find a mom with children teach them to go behind the sales counter and tell the clerk that they are lost.
Again, this is critical: teach them that the most important thing is to never go looking for you. They should stay in the immediate area where they last saw you. They should never go with a stranger to look for you, even if it’s a mom with children.
3. Teenagers in Groups With Regular Check in Times.
While it is not so cool for teens to shop with parents, make sure they head off in groups of four or more. It’s good to make sure your child knows all the other teens in the group pretty well, too.
Most teenagers have cell phones today so set up regular check in times, say every 90 minutes. This is not about lack of trust, it is purely a safety issue. Set the rules and have your teen stick to it. Just in case the cell phone batteries go out, set up a rendezvous time and place in the mall, too.
4. Always go with your child to the public restroom in shopping areas.
No matter what the age of your child, head to the restroom with them when they have to go. If it is an opposite sex, than wait oustside the door. Its “OK” to yell inside the opening door too, if your wait time gets to be too long. Teens usually go to the bathroom in groups but its a good idea to reinforce that behavior and remind them to do so when they are off without you.
Common sense strategies even for the busy shopping season means you’ll never have to say, “I never thought it would happen to me!
Preston Jones and Joyce Jackson are child safety experts in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA.Keeping Kids SafeTMis a comprehensive personal safety course covering the full gamut of the things kids need to know today to be safe in their environment. Their entire APPROACH to child safety is UNIQUE. Some of the ideas they use you have heard. Some of the techniques they have you have seen. What they do is put it all together in a very effective and unique way. One, they teach kids to keep themselves safe. Two, they teach parents to reinforce their safety techniques at home by making families better with safer kids.
