Safe-Smart Rules for Kids and Grownups!

Our friend Pattie Fitzgerald, founder of Safely Ever After, Inc., is back blogging with us, and offering her "Super Ten "Safe-Smart Rules" for Kids and Grownups. Pattie knows what we know at Safety4Kids--that keeping kids safe is a full time job! But there is so much good information out there to help us all--and Pattie is leading the way when it comes to dealing with the way in which your child interacts with friends, family and strangers. Here's some great information you may want to keep handy--talk about this with your kids. An ounce of prevention...uh-oh, I sound like my parents again!


Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf? How about the boogeyman? Okay, good--so we've got those two covered!

But how about the ice cream man, or the next door neighbor, or the after-school sports coach? Now, before you get mad at me for picking on those three, let me just say I have nothing against any of these community members! In fact, my daughter and I buy Fudgsicles from our local ice cream man at the park all the time, and I have a very cool next door neighbor. So why bring them up?

Because...as a child safety advocate and sexual abuse prevention educator, it's my job to make sure that we are teaching our kids about personal safety in the most effective, up to date manner. By now, most parents know that the "stranger-danger" concept is outdated and doesn't serve our children.

And, many parents are at least somewhat familiar with the statistic that 90 percent of childhood molestation occurs by someone the child knows, and has some kind of a relationship with.

Okay everybody...breathe!! This DOES NOT mean we have to teach our kids to fear everyone or suspect that everybody out there in the world is a child molester. In fact, quite the opposite. Most people are not waiting in the wings, ready to harm our kids the moment we turn our backs. Good news, right?!

But, unfortunately, we do live in a world where childhood sexual abuse exists and the best way to protect kids is to EMPOWER them with the right kind of safety information. So, how do we begin to teach our children to interact with various adults every day without being taken advantage of? I like to start with my Super-Ten "Safe--Smart” Rules!

The Super-Ten Rules work for kids at every age, whether they are 4 years old or 14 years old. The only difference is the manner in which you teach them to your children.

The Super-Ten Rules work because they can help kids (and parents) identify a "thumbs up or thumbs down" situation or spot a potential red flag in another person's behavior.

The Super-Ten Rules are a great way to start the safety dialog with your kids. You can even role-play or create specific "What If...?" scenarios with your children and apply one or more of the Super-Ten rules as the response.

So without further ado... here they are:

The Super-Ten Safe-Smarts Rules For Kids and Grownups!

1. I am special and I have the right to be SAFE!
2. I know my name, address and phone number...and my parents' cell phone number, too.
3. Safe Grownups Don't Ask Kids for Help. (They go to other adults for assistance.)
4. I don't keep SECRETS from my parents. (No one should tell a child to keep a secret from their parents, especially another adult.)
5. I never go ANYWHERE or take ANYTHING from someone I don’t know...no matter what they say.
6. I always ASK FIRST and get permission before: I go anywhere, change my plans, or accept something...even if it's from someone I know.
7. Everybody's bathing suit areas are private. No bathing suit area games allowed.
8. I don't have to be POLITE to anyone who makes me feel scared or uncomfortable. It's okay to say NO! even to a grownup if I have to.
9. If I ever get lost in a public place, I can FREEZE AND YELL or go to a MOM WITH KIDS and ask for help.
10. It's not my fault if someone tries to touch me in a "weird" or uncomfortable way. I will always tell a safe grownup if I feel scared or confused about any touches. And I will keep telling until I get help.

Safe-Smarts work for kids at every age. Even very young children can be taught these basic concepts. Review them often; clarify and update as your child matures.

Let us know how you deal with these situations--what do you tell your kids? What you tell them can make all the difference in the world.

Be Safe!

(c) Sonya Etchison. Image from BigStockPhoto.com

More on Dry Drowning

As with everything related to health and well-being, there are different schools of thought. At Safety4Kids, we always turn to our distinguished Safety Council member Dr. Carl Baum, Director, Center for Children's Environmental Toxicology at Yale University Department of Pediatrics. Here is what Dr. Baum has to say:


The World Health Organization classifies drowning outcomes as death, morbidity, and no morbidity. The terms wet, dry, active, passive, silent, and secondary drowning should no longer be used.

Although it is true that the amount of liquid in the lungs can vary in drowning victims, it is not clear that the tragic death of the 10-year-old in South Carolina was a case of drowning. The sequence of events described, including the fact that the child walked home from the pool, is not consistent with common drowning scenarios, and suggests that there were other factors involved in his death.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reminds us that children most commonly drown when they are able to enter a pool despite a fence, or when they are playing in the pool without supervision. Here are some strategies to help prevent drowning:

--Install 4-sided isolation fencing, at least 4-feet high and with self-closing, self-latching gates, around pools. The house, in other words, should not serve as one side of the fence, because children may be able to enter the pool area through doors or windows.

--A responsible adult who is not distracted by other activities should supervise children who are swimming. And swim lessons should never be considered "drown-proofing," and are no substitute for constant, close supervision.


(c) Photo courtesy Yale University.

Dry Drowning: Invisible Tragedy

You take your kids to a pool. They frolic and splash, swallowing a little chlorinated water. Then they dry off and you take them home for a shower or a bath. Hidden in this every day scenario is a tragedy that is almost unthinkable. Your child can drown. Drown! In that little bit of water. All it takes is for that water to get into the lungs.

A recent tragedy in South Carolina brought this hidden hazard to light.

There are warning signs that your child may have gotten water in his lungs, but the signs themselves are so common, they rarely register as unusual. Be vigilant. Here are the signs:

• difficulty breathing; this is not uncommon after swimming or exerting lots of energy in a pool; pay close attention
• extreme tiredness; this is a tough one because, again, kids are tired after playing in the water
• changes in behavior; we all know that can come out of nowhere; be particularly attuned after water sports

All of these signs signal loss of oxygen to the brain, but they are difficult to diagnose and we're parents, not doctors. But this is a deadly hidden hazard, and with the hot weather in full swing and the pools open, please be especially vigilant. It can even happen in the bath.

Keeping our kids safe is a full time job.

Related Topics:

• S.C. 'Dry Drowning' Death Draws Attention
• First Aid: Drowning Treatment

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