How to Ensure Children's Safety Wherever They Go

Table of contents:

• What Do I Need to Know about Child Safety?
• How Do You Keep Children of All Ages Safe?
• AllsWell Alert App for Timely Help for a Child in Need

 

Children's safety remains our primary concern since their birth and until adulthood. Yet, people have plenty of misconceptions about life threats and health risks. Because of it, parents might miss out on far more harmful factors or go ridiculously overprotective.

For instance, 25,000 toddlers get injured by tumbling out windows and being toppled over by furniture and TV sets annually. But in contrast to preschoolers and primary schoolers, they are unlikely to poison themselves with household chemicals or medicines — they're simply unable to unseal the bottles. Hence, childproofing and child safety measures should evolve and be up-to-date as your offspring grow.

Therefore, we would like to guide you in developing a reasonable and sensible approach to child safety. The represented tips are tried-and-true and easy to follow in everyday life. They will help you gain calm and protect your adorable kids from any harm.

What Do I Need to Know about Child Safety?

Kids stay kids wherever they are. If they are completely immersed in play, they tumble, slip, and crash, paying no heed to it. Still, recklessness may lead to severe injuries, so adults should always supervise kids' behavior.

Children's Safety on the Road and in the Car

The proper use of baby or booster car seats reduces the risk of injury in car accidents by 71–82% compared to situations when they are only fastened with seat belts. So we strongly recommend getting acquainted with NHTSA's guides on types of car seats, installation, and use requirements to gain utmost confidence in children's safety.

Pay attention to these general pieces of advice for road safety for children between 5-13 years:

• They should travel in the back seat. The laws of some states prohibit kids under 12 years old from traveling in the front seat or demand them to be at least 4" and 9" tall. The deployment of the passenger-side airbag would be traumatic to the underaged.

• Kids and teens must fasten all seat belts. To ensure absolute child safety in their passenger seat, teach them to strap both lap and shoulder seat belts.

• Teach them to keep quiet. Distracting the driver harms safety on the road. So make the younger generation understand that they're required to get hold of themselves during the ride.

In addition to children safety rules inside the vehicle, it is crucial to instruct them on how to avoid troubles while being around driveways and thoroughfares. Middle schoolers and teens are at a much higher risk of pedestrian injuries than younger children. The death rate in their case is twice as high as among younger kids.

So teach your kid to stay alert and follow these children safety rules while walking along or crossing the street:

• First look around, then walk. Children should keep an eye on the vehicles up and down the road before and while crossing it. Tell them jaywalking is forbidden.

• Put down headphones and smartphones. It's essential not only to observe but listen. It might be difficult to spot an approaching car because of poor visibility or road bend. But kids can still hear it coming their way if they don't use headphones.

• Ride a bicycle safely. There is never too much child safety when riding a bike around the neighborhood. Grown-up kids and primary schoolers must always put on a helmet. Also, remember that children under 10-12 years old should ride on the sidewalks only and their first try-outs to ride in the bike lane needs supervision.

Children's Safety in Kindergarten and School

Although you can expect teaching personnel to be impeccable in coping with emergencies, it's better to teach your children safety rules, so they can get by themselves or immediately call for adult assistance. Here are the best practical tips for you to try:

• Familiarize your child with emergency plans. Awareness of emergency procedures will help them remain composed and put aside hesitation whenever a life-threatening situation occurs.

• Develop safe routes to and from school. Following a pre-arranged route would save you from unwanted worries. You can also leverage parental control apps to additionally supervise your kid's travel. 

• Teach children to voice their concerns. Whether they feel down, unwell, scared, or notice something suspicious, they should speak to you or teachers about it.

• Learn how you can contribute. Initiatives like forming a neighborhood watch can improve children's safety before and after classes. Yoг can team up with the rest of the parents to improve traffic safety around the school facility.

Children Safety in Nature and Water

Our previous blog posts on camping safety and heat protection in summer can help you figure out how to enjoy a family vacation without unnecessary risks. Also, it would be essential to ensure child safety during outdoor water activities. Consider these precautions:

• Don't let kids swim alone. They still can lack the skill and strength to swim through large waves and fast-flowing water. It's safer to accompany preschoolers and primary schoolers in the water, even if they are already good at swimming in shallow water.

• Ask kids to follow the safety signs. Check the area for signs warning of dangerous wildlife, rip currents, and sharp corrals. Explain to kids why they shouldn't go there.

• Always keep an eye on the weather. Stormy weather and lightning can put any swimmer at obvious risk, not to mention children's safety. So set a good example – get out of the water once the weather worsens.

• Seek beaches with lifeguard surveillance. Professional lifeguards are your true saviors coming to the rescue whenever there's a drowning, heatstroke, or any health issue. Moreover, they can educate adults and youngsters on how to cope with risky situations like being caught by torrents and undertows.

How Do You Keep Children of All Ages Safe?

The general children's safety recommendation would be to inform your child about specific threats. Also, you should consistently encourage and appreciate them for being prudent and self-reliant.

Here are general child security rules:

• Stay connected. Make brief phone chit-chat or texting during the day. If your child is too small to use a mobile phone, you can stay updated on their location using a personal GPS tracker.

• Not to wander alone in the unknown or desolate area. That's the standard child safety recommendation for all ages. Fair enough, teenagers may seek solitude, but they should pick out spots within reach and take a phone with them for such trips.

• Get to know your kid's friends and their families. It is essential to know what schoolmates your kids hang out with and what activities they share.

• Not to trust strangers. Educate your kiddo not to follow strangers even if they appear harmless. Also, instruct them not to share personal information: home address, phone numbers, etc.

• Teach kids when and how to report an emergency. Even the little ones should learn how to call 911 or other emergency contacts. Make sure that kids can name themselves and their home address, and point out specific landmarks that would help emergency services get to them asap.

Finally, you can bring kids to the idea that anxiety is always worth paying attention to. Following instincts often helps stay out of trouble.

AllsWell Alert App for Timely Help for a Child in Need

To all parents concerned about child safety beyond the family nest, there's a favorable solution they can leverage to stay assured that their kids do fine. AllsWell Alert app is a simple and fail-proof personal well-being tracker designed to inform you on any occasion when loved ones need help.

Thanks to the combination of a panic button and inactivity monitoring, children can send notifications instantly or even when they're unable to reach their phones. The predetermined emergency contacts will receive text messages with the exact GPS location of a child in distress to get there in a blink of an eye.

If you wish to monitor child safety remotely at any moment, download AllsWell Alert to Android or iOS devices right away. Try it for free for a 30-day trial period and go on with only $9.99 per month.