The Key to Child Safety: Parental Awareness!

I must say, this world today can be a terrifying place.  This coming from one who remembers an age not so long ago where leaving the door unlocked when leaving the house, or when you were asleep,  was done without a second thought.  

Now, I was a fearless kid for the most part.  I didn't worry about every little "stranger", or even hesitate talking to them.  Let's face it!  I grew up without a Father, and with a Mother who worked often to make ends meet.  An only child, no one ever knew where I was!  Heck, I'd ride my bike so far some days that I wouldn't even know where I was.  But alas, those days are long gone.  Sigh...

In these days a parent listens to every emergency chime on the tv, hears every siren, is leary of every strange looking person, and has more locks on their doors than hudini wore in a coffin underwater.  The fact is, people are afraid for their children.  The urge is to lock them in their rooms, check on them every 5 minutes, and keep a GPS tracking device around their neck.  What child deserves this?  None.

Parents do have to be very cautious of their children, but I fear the results of fear.  Odd thought process?  Not really if you consider that fear does nothing but generate more fear.  If we are fearful of our children, where they go, and what they do, then they too will be fearful of the same.  I believe, as a parent of several children, from young ages to teen, that there are ways to "keep an eye" on them, without staring at them 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  If you'll allow me, I'd like to share a few of them with you.