Keeping Teens Safe Tips
Read these 5 Keeping Teens Safe Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Home Security tips and hundreds of other topics.
Knowing Your Kids' Friends & Their Parents
As your kids become teenagers and delve into high school the number of other kids they meet skyrockets. Sometimes it may even seem like a revolving door of new friends, boyfriends and girlfriends.
Part of keeping teens safe is keeping track of who their friends are and who their friends' parents are. If their parents often leave them unsupervised at home than that means your teen might be unsupervised while at their house.
You work hard to make sure your kids are safe in your own home and you want them to be safe when they're in someone else's house too. Do they have a home security system? Are there smoke and Co2 detectors in the house?
Knowing how seriously they take their own home security and the safety of their kids will give you an idea of how safe your teen is with them. If you are not satisfied with the security of a friend's home, have your kids bring them to your house instead. This way you know that they are supervised by adults and are safe in your house.
Home safety for kids should be just as important to other parents as it is to you.
Familiarize Your Kids With The Alarm System
As your children grow into teenagers there are more instances where they might be home alone. With no one else at home, they need to be familiar with how your home security system works. When they are old enough it is important to make sure they are comfortable operating the alarm and know what to do in an emergency.
This includes the following items:
- Knowing how to arm and disarm the system
- Knowing how to use the command station to control lights, motion detectors and other security equipment
- Understanding exactly what areas of the house and yard your wireless security system protects
- Being able to test the home security equipment to make sure it is in working order
- Knowing what the password is in case the monitoring company calls
All of these are things that your teenagers should know to maintain home security. The more familiar they are with the alarm system and emergency procedures the more they can help with younger siblings as well.
Securing Your Garage
When your kids start to get their licenses and venture out onto the roads you want to make sure that they are as safe pulling into your driveway as they are pulling out of it. Protecting your driveway and garage with a wireless home security system is always a good idea, but it is even more so once your teenagers start driving. This starts with outdoor security lighting.
These lights can be programmed with motion sensors and turn on whenever a car pulls into the driveway. An automated garage door can be controlled by a key chain remote, so you or your teen never has to get out of the car.
Your garage should be secured just like any other part of your house. Once inside the door can close on a timer and the alarm will arm itself. By taking these precautions leading up to and in your garage, you are improving the home safety for your family and avoiding potential contact with burglars or car thieves.
Now you don't have to worry about your son or daughter pulling safely into the garage at night or the car being stolen when you get up in the morning. Home security companies make specific equipment to secure your garage with the same standards as the rest of your house.
Always Be Reachable For Your Kids
When kids get older and more mature you may allow them to be home alone under certain conditions. Even if your teenagers are mature and responsible, they are not yet adults. They may need your help for something while you are not there.
If you are at work or running errands or anything that might take you away from home while your kids are there alone, keep in regular contact with them. Make sure they know your cell phone number in case they need you, and make it a point to call them whenever you can.
Ask if everything is okay. Did they set the home security alarm? Did they eat dinner? Did they lock the doors and windows?
Even the most responsible of teens may forget something or need your help. Leave a list of phone numbers on the fridge that they might need. These can include your cell phone or work numbers, the number of the restaurant you are eating dinner at, a neighbor, a family member, etc.
Let them know when you will be back and that they should call you immediately if there is a problem. Home security is important all the time, but especially when your kids are home without you. Do everything you can in keeping teens safe.
Internet Safety Is Part Of Home Safety
Internet use is a big part of home safety. Any computer in your home connected to the Internet could be targeted by hackers looking to steal personal information. This includes information about your home security system.
Never store password information and other sensitive materials about your burglar alarm system on a computer. All of this data should be on hard copies (paper) and stored inside your home.
With chat rooms and instant messaging so popular these days, make sure that your kids do not share any of this information with people over the Internet. There are also parental locks that can be used on computers to stop kids from viewing sites that do not meet your approval or attempt to retrieve information from your hard drive.
The Internet is a vast source of information and content, but not all of it is appropriate for your kids. Home safety extends to the computer, so make sure the time your teenager spends on the Internet is productive and does not negatively impact their safety or the safety of your house.
| Guru Spotlight |
| Jennifer Mathes, Ph.D. |
