“Crime is a reality for South Africans and our children and teenagers are being affected. We need to empower them to know what to do in an emergency and how to protect themselves,” he said.
Whether parents or caregivers are at home or not, children should know what to do in an emergency. The adult may be incapable of calling for help and the children may have to come to the rescue.
Here are safety tips to teach your children:
• Make sure your children memorise their full names, address and phone number.
• Using a play phone, teach children when and how to dial 10111.
• Put other emergency numbers on speed dial on your home phone.
• Teach your children how to operate the speed dial, explaining when it should be used.
• Always leave a phone number where you can be reached along with numbers for neighbours and emergency services right next to the phone.
• Make sure they realise the importance of speaking clearly and telling the emergency services exactly what is happening.
• Let your children practise operating door and window locks.
• Set a good example by locking doors and windows and checking to see who it is before opening a door.
• Explain how important it is not to let anyone into the house without your permission.
• Teach them to not reveal on the phone or at the door that no adults are home, but to rather say their parents are too busy to come to the phone or door.
• Rehearse the home fire escape plan with your children.
• Teach your children basic first aid such as putting pressure on a bleeding wound and what to do with minor burns.
“The golden rule with children is to develop good security habits and to communicate regularly about safety,” said Humphrey.
The same rule applies for teens, but since they are more independent, safety while out of the house needs to be a priority.
“Parents need to talk to their teens about personal safety while at shopping malls, nightclubs, entertainment zones and other people’s homes. They need to know emergency numbers and avoid areas that may be dangerous such as isolated parking lots.
“Most teens carry cellphones, Ipods and the likes, which make them targets for criminals. They need to be taught to be aware of what is going on around them and to keep their valuable items out of sight, when possible,” concluded Humphrey.
