If we’re one thing as a species we’re protective of our offspring. We’ll go through hell to make sure they’re brought up right and in a safe environment and there’s no worse fear for a parent than having that control, that ability to protect their children taken away from them. There’s only so much a parent can do without wrapping their kids in bubble wrap and at the end of the day, it’s about how well you prepare your kids for the outside world. If they’re ready for it and they know how to handle poor situations the chances are that they’ll be able to look after themselves and you’ll be able to breathe a whole lot easier! So how’re you going to teach your kids to be safe?
Predators
This is good old fashioned stranger danger. Your kids should be taught from a young age that anyone they don’t know is potentially dangerous and shouldn’t be spoken too or approached. Encourage playing in large groups and make sure they know that they can say no if they’re asked to do something by a stranger. Make sure they know to find an adult they know if they get scared or need help.
Bullying
Confidence is key here, bullying isn’t a new thing but it’s universally difficult to tackle as the bullied party often feels unable to speak up. Make sure you kids know they can report a bully and that they shouldn’t be afraid to speak up against someone being physically or emotionally abusive to them or to anyone else. Along these lines try and get your children to understand that it’s okay for them to stand up for themselves or others.
Online
With the march of technology comes various issues and the above problems can occur just as readily and much more frequently online where there’s much more anonymity than offline. Teach your kids about common sense online and not taking everything they see for granted, put up filters where you think they’re important and make sure your kids understand that people they meet online are not to be trusted as they could literally be pretty much anyone.
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