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Teaching Your Child
Start early -- Two years old is not too early to start teaching your child about safety. A three-year-old can learn how to talk on a telephone and how to make an emergency call (post the number on the wall, and make sure he or she can reach the telephone at all times). Between 3 and 4 years old, a child can learn a home number and address. To help reinforce the child's memory, paste your home phone number on the wall and on the telephone, and practice calling the number from other places. A really great way to reinforce lessons you've taught is to have your child teach you. Pretend to be a younger sibling, or a young friend -- or play Barbies or dolls -- and have your child teach you or the dolls how to handle different situations. This forces the child to think and to apply the lessons. Give your child self-confidence -- Safer Child has provided you with an ever-evolving list of Teaching Links to helpful organizations that work to teach you how to teach and protect your child. Safer Child isn't suggesting you hound your children to a point at which they're afraid of their own shadow. But you can gradually introduce them to the notion that there is the potential for danger. Then, because it wouldn't be fair to tell them that and not give them the self-confidence or skills to cope with it, make sure they know that you (and other caregivers) will protect them, and that, over time, they also can learn how to protect themselves. Tailor your teaching to your child's age -- Three years old is, in our opinion, too young to start talking about Internet stalkers and gangs. But it isn't, in our opinion, too young to start telling your child that somebody else might think she's so cute, he might try to take her home (and that's why she needs to stay close to you). Let your child guide you -- You know your child. Start him or her when ready and go by your child's reaction. Answer questions as simply and as honestly as you can. Try to stay relaxed. If talking about these things makes you uncomfortable, your child will pick up on your discomfort and perhaps transfer the bad feeling to himself. It might help to keep in mind that your whole goal in talking with your child is to help your child learn how to keep safe.
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Safer Child, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with federal tax-exempt status. Please note: 1) External organizations listed herein do not necessarily endorse Safer Child positions, nor do we necessarily endorse theirs. We list them as a courtesy and aren't responsible for their accuracy, completeness or content. 2) We recommend you maintain a healthy skepticism when reviewing information on the Internet; it might appear to be reliable -- yet actually be false, misleading, incomplete, out-of-date and/or intentionally harmful. 3) There might be material on the Internet that you disagree with or find objectionable; preview all sites before viewing them with your child. 4) We are not responsible for external addresses/phone numbers changing without our knowledge. 5) The information and commentary on this site are not substitutes for professional advice from your doctor, lawyer, or mental health professional. 6) Requests for permission to republish, copy and/or distribute any material found on this Web site should be directed to Safer Child, Inc.
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