How To Keep Your Child Safe

Be Involved. As a parent, you are the best measure of prevention your child has. Stay Involved. Ask questions and get close to your child. It's never to late, or too early to start. Studies have proven the children who are close to their parents are more likely to stay safe and take less risks. The more involved you are in your children’s lives, the more valued they’ll feel. The more valued they feel, the more they'll respond to your parental guidance.

Keeping your children safe includes more than high-tech gadgets and monitoring devices. There are dangers where they play. Driveways and playgrounds are another likely place where accidents can happen. Keeping your kids buckled up in their car seats or booster seats is one of the most important safety steps you can take to prevent unnecessary injury. Summertime is another hot spot for dangers lurking around every corner. Pools are a leading factor in many accidents. Parents can find many tools to gate off pools, but the most important thing you can do is stay with them every minute that they are near water.

1. Teach kids to pay attention to posture, gesture, different ways people look so that they can learn to be alerted to clues when something is wrong.
2. Teach kids to yell, "This is not my parent!" if someone tries to take her away.
3. Create a password between you and your child. It is common for strangers to claim that the child's parent asked that they pick up the child. If a child knows to ask for the password, and the stranger does not know it, the child will know not to trust the person.
4. Teach your children that if a stranger tries to take them away, they should scratch, scream and try to get away.
5. Never let your children walk home alone. Organize adult-supervised walking-home groups.
6. Make sure your child knows his full name, address, and phone number, as well as those of his parents.
7. Teach your child how to make an emergency phone call.
8. Make sure the child never tells anyone over the phone that she is home alone, and NEVER opens the door to strangers when she is home alone.
9. Inform children that adults do not usually ask children for directions or help, but should be asking other adults. If someone in a car should stop to ask for directions, they should not go near the car.
10. Inform child hat no one should ask her to look for a "lost puppy" or tell her that either of her parents is in trouble and that he will take her to mom or dad.

What To Do If Your Child Is Missing

Viewthe recommendations from The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the National Crime Prevention Council on steps to take in the event a child is missing.

Help Find Missing Children

Viewphotos and information about missing children here. (Provided by The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children)

Common sense and parental guidance are the leading tools for protecting your children. However, it is unreasonable to expect that parents can watch over their children at all times. However, if you follow the guidelines presented here, teach your children about the potential dangers, and use the tools that are available to help you, you stand a good chance of keeping your children safe. Explore the links on this page to see what products are available that will help you protect your child.