Summer Safety Tips

With summer right around the corner and kids out of school for a month or so, some will not always be supervised. For whatever reasons some kids are old "enough to be left alone for the day, some have older siblings watching over things while Mom and Dad work, and some are with other types of sitters. I have written several articles about how to keep your child occupied during the summer while still learning and having fun. However there are something's we need to remember to keep our kids safe during their summer fun times.

If your child is old enough to be home alone and will be pretty much unsupervised for the whole day or evening, remember to set-up your internet blocks or parental blocks. Educate your kids as to what they are permitted to look at, who they are allowed to socialize with online, and add in what is absolutely unacceptable and will not be permitted. If you need to, make a list to keep near the computer as a reminder. It maybe necessary to laminate the list you make and staple it to the front of their computer monitor. Okay, that was a joke but laminating it and putting close to their screen where it is always visible and a parental reminder when you are not there.

Remind all of your children not to answer the telephone and if they do happen to answer the phone then be sure that they know never to let the person on the other end know that they are home alone. You can solve this issue a lot with Caller ID's or teach them how to screen the phone calls with an answering machine. The most important thing is that they never give personal info over the phone and they do not let on that they are alone. This is a great tip no matter the time of year or season.