December/holidays  come with lots of safety concerns and challenges. What safety concern are you most worried about?

I am worried that we have children who might be molested or abducted because parents haven’t taught them how to avoid this yet.

Have you taught your children how to stay safe this season?

What safety concern are you worried about?

Feel free to share so I can make suggestions for you. Remember the difference between good and bad outcomes in a safety situation is the knowledge available and time to act.

Last week at the #SAFE4MeConference2018 I spoke on situational awareness and how it keeps us safe. After that a parent spoke to me about an incident where the driver of a car stepped down to do something and some other people came into the car and drove away. There was a child in the car who had been playing on a mobile device but she saw when the people entered the car and knew this wasn’t their family driver. Eventually she got saved. Imagine all that could have gone wrong in this scenario?

We are officially winding down the year and have entered the festive scene as you can see from the build up of traffic in some areas. This is also the time a lot of miscreants try to play a fast one on unsuspecting citizens. Can we totally stop them? Maybe not but we can become more situationally aware on our roads and reduce our eligibility of falling prey

Here are some tips
1) Do not leave children unattended in the car. Asides the fact a thief/kidnapper can drive off with them in the car, if they accidentally lock themselves in the car, they can die from heat

2) Always keep valuables out of sight on the roads. You can have a dummy purse and phone such that if robbers waylay you in traffic and ask for them, you can hand it over knowing it’s the fake. They won’t be opening the purses to check which is real or fake at that time

3) Always be alert and conscious of your environment when in traffic. Keep car doors locked and windows up. If your air conditioning is not working, you need to be watchful to know when to raise your windows

4) Teach your kids to stay calm and not distract you on the roads as distraction could lead to accidents. Do not allow them to stand instead keep them engaged in activities

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Have your ordered our #ChildSafety story book? Order now by sending an email. It makes a great addition to children gift packs. Gift them something they can learn lifesaving skills from

I recorded a T.V. interview on how a school can ensure safety on their premises. One of the questions I was asked was the role of parents.

1) Be observant: it is only when you observe that you will notice unsafe acts. For example, how did you get into the school without due process? A stranger can do same. Do you always see stagnant water at a particular spot?  Do you always trip on that particular walkway?

2) Ask questions: asking questions helps provide knowledge and prevents assumption. Could it be they are genuinely unaware of the implications? Could it be they have a system in place you are not aware of? It is only when you get involved and ask that you will know if your child is safe in that school

3) Support existing effective systems: Some schools have a challenge where the parent is a rebel. When schools put systems in place to protect your child, help them do their job by complying with set safety rules. For example, you know the pickup procedure, do not give security personnel or teachers issue when you are the one disobeying

4) Make recommendations: If you see something is not done right or not done at all, make recommendations for improvement. When in doubt, invite me to help them out.

When the T.V. interview is out, I’d share so you can learn other things.

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