Find info on your childrens health » Child Safety

You Can’t Spoil a Child through Love

admin — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 10:07:26 +0000

You Can’t Spoil a Child through Love
Though we all worry about spoiling our child, rest assured that you cannot spoil your child with love. Love doesn’t spoil children. Love is imperative to a child’s healthy development, and it’s just not possible to love your child too much. They need caring adults to spend time with them, play with them, teach them, protect them, and enjoy life with them.
It’s a parent’s job to provide love, safety and encouragement. The process of growing up provides children with lots of challenges. Try to listen openly and understand their situation and communicate honestly with them when they have difficulties and letdowns in their life.
Set appropriate limits with your child and then adhere to them. Establishing limits with your child gives them a sense of safety and security. Sometimes parents do not set limits because they don’t want to fight with their children. They don’t want to cause bad feelings. They may beg a child to comply. Or they may make a rule and fail to enforce it. They may nag without ever enforcing the rules. None of these helps children. When your child fails to adhere or comply with the boundaries you’ve set for them, be firm yet kind in your response. This lets them know that you’re serious about the rule but dedicated to helping and loving them. Bear in mind though that each child is different and what works for one child may not work for another. For example, one child may respond well to the direct approach of telling them a specific time to be home, where another child may need a gentle reminder that it’s now time to come home.
Develop a firm but kind manner of making and enforcing your household’s rules and expectations. There’s no need to fear our children, and there should be no need to instill a sense of fear in our children in order to get them to comply.

Take A Picture, Help Prepare Your Family

admin — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:41:04 +0000

Parents and guardians recognize the importance of monitoring their child’s eating habits, extracurricular activities and Internet usage. Yet many are still not taking all of the necessary steps to help protect their children.

A recent survey found that, despite several child abduction cases in the national headlines over the past few years, one of the most important child identification tips is often overlooked.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) says that having a good-quality current photo of the missing child is essential to assist law enforcement in the critical first hours of investigation after a child is reported missing. However, according to a recent survey conducted by Duracell and NCMEC, only 46 percent of parents or guardians believe that having a recent photo of a child for emergency purposes is important. Additionally, only 49 percent of parents who have an emergency photo of their child update it every six months-the time frame recommended by experts.

“Having an updated photo is essential should your child ever go missing,” said Nancy A. McBride, National Safety Director of NCMEC. “Parents and guardians also need to continue to make child safety a priority by ensuring their children are properly supervised, knowing the adults who have access to their children and practicing basic safety skills with their family regularly.”

A common myth is that it is less important to discuss general safety information with older children because “they know better.” According to NCMEC, children 11 to 17 years of age are at an equal or greater risk than younger children. Older children may appear to be very self-confident, but may engage in risky behavior because they do not understand the consequences of their actions. When parents give their older children more freedom, they should make sure they understand the important safety rules.

Parents Exercise Your Control

admin — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 22:53:15 +0000

Just as it is your job to protect your children in every day life, it is your job as a parent to protect your children online. Parents who wouldnt allow their children to go out with people they dont know often think nothing of letting their children spend hours online chatting with strangers. Today, online crimes can easily enter your home, so it is your responsibility to make your child aware of the online dangers that exist. In addition to communicating with your child about online safety, pro-active parents can purchase software that may prevent potential problems.

Filtering programs such as NetNanny and CyberPatrol can offer some restriction to inappropriate web sites that might contain pornography. However, these programs arent foolproof and do not provide realtime alerts and notification. Your child may still be able to access some pornographic sites and some legitimate sites may accidentally be blocked.

If you are concerned about your childs online activities, a parental control service by OnlineSafetyPAL and program like OnlineSafetyShield can used to help ensure online child safety when you are not around. These programs and services are set-up to record and monitor all computer activity and provide real-time alert notification. Parents can create a list of certain specific forbidden words, such as pornography or sex. If any of these words are typed during a session, the program automatically records it. The online monitoring feature can give parents peace of mind by being able to view online recordings. Working parents can even set the program to send them alert emails to their computer and text messages on their mobile phones to let them know when there has been any improper use of the computer. If your child attends after school care that has Internet access, be sure to check with them to see if they use a control or filtering program.

Does my Child need Therapy?

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:42:05 +0000

Today, it is hard to determine if you should be providing child therapy to your child. It is very difficult for parents to think that there may be a problem with their baby. After all, up until the teen years hit, they allowed you to take care of them. They told you when things were not okay. You dealt with their needs throughout their life. But, now, you need to wonder if you should be providing teen therapy for them. To really know if your child needs help, ask yourself these questions.

What has changed about my child that has me concerned? If you are worried about their physical health, there is no doubt that you would recommend that they work with a doctor, right? So, if it is their emotional health that may be a problem, you need to get them the teen therapy they need.
Does your child have problems with eating, socializing or does he have behavior problems at school? Acting out in any of these areas is not normal. If your child is having problems, especially at school, child therapy can help.

Do you know that your child is drinking, doing drugs, engaging in sex, or is depressed? If you know this is the case, there is no doubt you need to get them into teen therapy before these circumstances ruin their lives. If you know about it, then it has probably gotten far out of hand.
Do you want them to have the best ability to make the right choices? Even if you do not feel your child has any problems, teen therapy can help to encourage things to stay that way.

Child therapy can be a blessing for a child. Even if they hate it and do not want to go, it can help them to realize that you care about their well being. It will help them to know what to do and how to react in their lives. Hearing from another adult what is right or wrong helps to strengthen their understanding and their belief in you. Teen therapy should not be a punishment then, but a way to get your child to safety.

Child Safety- Does Your Dog Have More Identification Than Your

admin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:44:59 +0000

Child Safety- Does Your Dog Have More Identification Than Your Child?

Take a moment and think about it. When you consider the fact that, as adults, we would never consider leaving the house without our id. We spend thousands on home and car alarms, we are even protecting our family pets with microchips; however, our most cherished possessions, our children, leave home without any identification.

Here are some questions:

- Have you taken the time to record your childs fingerprints, gather a hair sample for DNA purposes, record all his/her specific identification, including specific identifying features and a photograph of your child in a Child ID kit? If so, is it up to date?

- In the event of a motor vehicle accident, in which you have been rendered unconscious, do the emergency medical professionals have a quick way of accessing your childs specific medical history, including your childs blood type, medical provider, allergies, any medications they may be taking at the time, or, even your familys doctors name and phone number?

- If you were on vacation with your children and they became lost or separated from you, or worse, arrived at a hospital, unconscious, as a John Doe, how or who would notify you and how would they know to do so?

- Do you or your husband, for that matter; carry your childs specific identification,
this should include an up to date picture?

- Do you, as responsible parents, take the time to talk with your children about child safety?

- If you became separated from your child in a crowd, would someone be able to contact you directly, or even know who your child was?

If your answer was no or I dont know, dont worry, you are not alone. The sad fact of the matter is that children do not carry identification; if they did they would likely loose it!

Given todays world, its becoming a necessity for children to carry identification. This fact was clearly illustrated through recent tragic natural disasters such as the tsunami, hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Pakistan. With each of these disasters, weve witnessed far too many unidentified children.

When thinking of child identification, often, fingerprints and hair samples are the first things that enter our mind. There are far too many companies that profess to provide your child with identification.
Let me inform you that 99.9% of those companies are passive in nature.

Fingerprints, DNA information, pictures and even dental records will and are only ever used after the fact. Passive information. Think of it as locking the barn after the horse gets away. Its unfortunate that as parents, we feel that we have done all possible to protect our children by having recorded this information. This is the first step, and a very important step in the safety of your child; however, as a parent, the only time you ever want to look at your childs identification kit is and should be when you update it. This is a very important step towards safeguarding against the unthinkable. Few people are aware that childrens fingerprints are actually changing for the first 4-5 years of their life; therefore, it is imperative that this information be updated at least once a year, and every 6 months for the first three years of a childs life.

When looking for a child identification provider, keep in mind the old adage An once of prevention far outweighs a pound of cure. If all the company provides you with are a fingerprint kit, keep looking! One such proactive provider of child safety and identification is Child ID Labels.

The purpose of this article is not to alarm you but to inform you, as we are all aware, information is a powerful tool. If, in reading this, you took a moment to think about your childs safety, please email this article to as many people as you know and encourage them to do the same. Your children are, after all, your most valuable possessions as well as our future.

Child Safety And Child Protection: Easy Steps You Can Take

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:16:53 +0000

Child Safety And Child Protection: Easy Steps You Can Take Part 1 Of 3

Did you know there are over 2,000 reports of missing and abducted children to the FBI everyday? That’s an incredible number, and that’s only the ones that are actually reported.

This is 1 of a 3 part series with some simple child safety steps you can take that will greatly minimize the chances of your child becoming missing or abducted. The experts recommend that you teach your child the following child protection techniques:

Here we go…

You should always be sure your child knows his/her name, address, including city, state, zip code; phone number, including area code; parents’ names, work addresses(or atleast the business names of where they work), and phone numbers.

Your child should feel confident using both push button phones, as well as, the old style rotary-dial telephones.

Always make sure your child knows how to make an emergency call to you or emergency services from a pay phone.

How to make a long distance call (both directly to you using the area code, and by dialing “0″ for the operator).

Your child should never tell anyone over the phone that she is home alone, and NEVER open the door to strangers when she is home alone.

Never to answer the door when home alone. Remind your child to talk through a door or window to anyone delivering a package, and to tell the person to leave the package at the door. Teach your child how to call your community’s emergency assistance number (often 911). Make sure he knows a neighbor to call if someone tries to get into the house or if there is any kind of emergency.

They need to be aware that it’s not safe and should never go into anyone’s home without your permission. Children should learn who’s homes they are allowd to enter.

These are just a few of the basic child safety lessons you can teach your child to keep them safe and out of harms way. keep an eye out for “Child Safety and Child Protection: Easy Steps You Can Take” – Part 2 of 3. Where we will discuss some child safety and child protection techniques you can take when your in public places, or when he/she might find themselves alone.

Child Safety And Child Protection: Easy Steps You Can Take

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:37:16 +0000

Child Safety And Child Protection: Easy Steps You Can Take Part 3 Of 3

Unfortunately the reality is, you can’t always be with your child. Occasionally your child is left in the care and supervision of other adults. As horrible as it is to imagine, the fact is, most child abductions occur by close family friends and/or other adults that the child is already familiar with. However, here are a few things you can teach your child that will empower them with the awareness they need to help keep them safe…even when you can’t be there.

Let’s begin…

There are “flags” that you can teach your child to be aware of, that seem to occur on a consistent bases with child abductions. One of those “flags” is that predators or would be predators often will test their potential victims. They will try and see how a child will react to seeming innocent situations. They often do this by seeing if the child can “keep a secret.”

Your child should know to ALWAYS tell you if someone has asked them or wants them to keep a “secret”

That no one should ever, ever touch or attempt to touch them in ANY part of their body covered by a bathing suit. And that they should never touch anyone in these areas either. Explain to them that the body is special and private.

To ask anyone who drives him anywhere, not to leave him alone in the car-but if he is alone in a car, to put up the windows, leaving a “finger” space between the window glass and the rim, and to lock the doors and stay near the car horn. If a stranger approaches the car, he should blow the horn until help arrives.

That she has the right to say NO to anyone who tries to take her somewhere, touches her, or makes her feel uncomfortable in any way.

If anyone tries to take them away to yell, “This is NOT my parent!” And keep yelling, even kicking and screaming. But ALWAYS use the words “This is not my parent!”

To never accept a ride with anyone else than who you allowed them to go with in the first place. Occasionally, abductors or child abduction schemes will involve a “hand off” of the child, after the child has been allowed to go with someone who is close and familiar to the family.

Your child should always ask permission to leave the yard or to go to a neighbors house. Older children should phone home to tell you where they are, especially if they change locations.

Your child should NEVER hitch hike! If your child calls and needs you pick them up, or needs a ride to go to another location. Stop what your doing and take them! They could have made a worse decision. They could be avoiding getting in a car with a drunk driver, or avoiding one of the dangers you taught them about. Give them the ride, it’s easier than dealing with the stress and emotional drain of having a missing child. Or even worse yet, identifying your childs body.

Teach your child to be home before dark. They may give you a hard time, but they will surely thank you later in life. And if they find themselves “late,” to stay away from dark or abandoned places.

And finally, teach your child to To avoid adults who are waiting around a playground particularly an adult who wants to play with them and their friends.

I hope you have found this 3 part series “Child Safety and Child Protection: Easy Steps You Can Take” usefull. The information you have been provided was compiled by multiple missing child agencies from all over the United States. These are the investigators on the front lines of the more than 1.4 Million missing child cases that are reported every single year.

Use the information I have provided for you and don’t take your childs’ safety lightly. Practice these child safety and child protection techniques. It’s important we all do our part to keeping the children of the world safe, and out of danger, today, tomarrow, and everyday for the rest of their lives.

Have An Incredible and Very Safe Day!

Child Safety And Child Protection: Easy Steps You Can Take

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 01:42:11 +0000

Child Safety And Child Protection: Easy Steps You Can Take Part 2 Of 3

Were back, and in this lesson were going to discuss some easy child safety techniques you can teach your child to stay safe when your out and about in public, or when he/she might find themselves alone. But before we get started here’s an interesting but frightening fact: Did you know that a child becomes missing, abducted, or lost about EVERY 40 seconds! Keep reading and let’s do our best to keep your child safe today, and make sure that he/she is going to come home!

Let’s get started…

This one is VERY important! If you become seperated from your child, he/she needs to know to never look for you if they become lost while shopping or in a public place. Instead, they need to go to the nearest checkout counter, security office, or lost and found, and tell the person in charge that she has lost his/her mom or dad and needs help in finding them. And they should NEVER go to a parking lot without you.

Teach your child the importance of the “buddy system.” To walk and play with others. If your child walks to school, have them walk woth other children. A child is most vulnerable when alone.

Your child needs to understand and realize 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.

Should your child notice someone following them on foot or in a car, to immediately go to a place where there are other people – to a neighbor’s home or into a store, for instance – and ask for help. They should not go near the car to talk to anyone inside and should NOT try to hide behind tree’s or bushes. They should NEVER hide!

Children need to be aware that no one should ever be asking them to help look for a “lost puppy” or telling them that either of his/her parents are in trouble and that they will take them to mom or dad.

It’s so important they understand the safety rules with cars! They need to NEVER go near a car with someone in it or to get into a car without your permission. Your child should learn who’s car they are allowed to ride in. Warn you child that someone might try to lure them into the car by telling them you said to pick him/her up; tell him/her never to obey instructions like these. Instead, they should go back to the school for help. Teach your child a “code word” that is only known among family members. Stress to your child that anyone offering a ride unexpectedly-even a family friend will have been given the code word in advanced.

– We will be devoting a whole article on the “code word” technique. it has saved alot of lives and realy works! Keep an eye out for it!

Finally, your child should ALWAYS tell you if someone offers him/her gifts, drugs, or wants to take their picture.

In the next article in the series “Child Safety and Child Protection: Easy Steps You Can Take” – Part 3 of 3. We will discuss what your child needs to know when they are in the supervision or care of other people and adults. Most child abductions are perpetrated by people that your child already knows and is familiar with. It’s important they understand what to do, and how to handle themselves. So until next time…

Have a very safe day!

Child Safety – How To Use “Code Words” Effectively

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:01:25 +0000

Did you know that there is a 1 in 42 chance that YOUR child will become lost, missing, or abducted? In other words…those are not odds in your favor! To many people have become very complacent about child safety. They seem to have a “It couldn’t happen to my child” attitude. You can believe that if you ask any of the parents of missing children, they thought the same thing. And you can also bet, their attitude has changed significantly.

What can you do, right now, that will dramatically put those odds back in your control? Start using “code words” in your family, today.

Here are the most important basics of using code words. Let’s begin…

Who uses the code word? Other than his/her parents, there should be only one or two relatives or very close, trusted family friends that a child should be taught are “special” enough to trust to pick him/her up from school or some other activity away from home.

When do you use the code word? If you are not able to pick up your child at an agreed upon time, and there is no way for you to contact your child, you should contact the “special person” to pick up your child. In the rare event that you cannot pick up your child, and you cannot reach the “special person”, the family code word MUST be used.

What should I use for the family “code word?” The family code word is a pre-determined word that should be very easy for your child to remember, but one that would be very difficult for someone else to guess. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! I will repeat this: The code word must be simple for your child to remember, yet very difficult for someone to guess. Some suggestions I recommend to use would be names of animals, such as, crocodile, giraffe, baboon, goldfish. DO NOT USE names that are common around your house. Such as, never use the name of your child’s favorite animal or pet.

Never choose a “code word” that is from things that are common to your family or house. Be creative, and make this a fun activity with your children. And be very specific. Don’t just decide on “bear” for your code word, how about using a “purple bear.” Remember, child safety should be fun. You don’t want to frighten your children.

How does my child use the code word system? If anyone other than yourself, your spouse, or the “special person” say’s they are there to pick up your child on your authority, your child should know to ask that person, “What’s the code word?” You should teach your child to disbelieve anyone who tries to pick them up if they do not know the code word.

Do I continue to use the same code word, always? Definately not! After an emergency situation arises where the code word must be used, the family needs to pick a new code word. Emphasize to the children that they should no longer respond to the old one. Be sure to review the new code word often enough to help al family members to remember it.

let me conclude this article on child safety by telling you that code words work. They have saved the lives of many children. This simple, yet highly effective tool is widely used by many families. There have been many, many police reports of children using the code word tool successfuly.

Remember to keep it fun, because keeping it fun, is keeping your children safe!

Until next time…

Spend some time with the kids, and have an incredible day!

Can you keep Your Children safe online?

admin — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:40:57 +0000

Few of us want to dwell on the subject of child abuse. but it is a very real and unfortunate fact of life in today’s world. The effects on Children can be devastating, and have a lifelong negative effect. As a parent what would you be willing to do to insure your child’s safety? Learning about threats to Your children and how to deal with them is not enough, you need to provide for thier safety. there are two types of programs that will satisfy different needs, both are effective and approach the problem differently.
Key loggers
Software like I am Big Brother (above) is keylogging software, it will record every key stroke entered on the subject computer, and you can see what has been typed including both sides of an instant messaging chat session, what web sites were visited, any emails sent or recieved, what programs were used, and pretty much anything else that has happened on that computer. One huge advantage of this type of software is that it is completely invisible to the user, you know it’s there but the person using the computer does not, (this is also useful if you suspect your spouse is having an online or offline affair) installation is simple, and generally will install itself.
Blocking Software
Blocking software is just that, it keeps undesirable websites from showing up. it has a built in list of restricted sites that is updated frequently (often everyday) and blocks sites based on other criteria such as hate speech etc. this type of software is best suited to younger individuals as it’s presence is obvious, and will sometimes but not often block access to completely safe sites.
And don’t worry about downloading these software titles, both of them are on Secure servers, it’s actually safer than using the telephone.

Find info on your childrens health » Child Safety

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