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Quick Halloween Safety Tips and Reminders

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With Halloween around the corner, kids are excited to wear their costumes and collect candy for as long as you will allow during the evening. Halloween has been a fun day for kids for many generations. You want your children to have fun, yet it’s also crucial to make their safety your top priority. Here are some Halloween safety tips for kids to keep in mind in advance of October 31.

Reflective Costumes

It’s important to make sure that your child’s costume has some reflective properties so they are easily visible at night. If the child chose a dark colored costume, simply purchase plenty of glow sticks that will make their presence known while trick or treating. These glow sticks can be hand held or fashioned into a necklace or bracelet. Explain to them why these reflective elements and glow sticks are important, so that drivers will be able to spot them easily when they’re trick or treating. It’s also a good idea to provide each child with a flash light for added safety.

 

Trick or Treat
Well Lit Neighborhoods Only

Choose a well lit neighborhood that is child friendly for trick or treating (preferably a neighborhood that has speed bumps and plenty of stop signs to force motorists to slow down). When a house is dimly light, it’s probably a good idea to pass it up because they may not be Halloween-friendly. If the neighborhoods that surround you are not well-lit or child friendly, no worries. Call you local libraries and malls to see if they are giving out candy to children.

No Candy Until It’s Checked
The most important Halloween safety tip is that your children are not allowed to consume ANY candy before it is checked by you or another trusted adult at home. When you and the children arrive home, empty the bag of candy on a table and inspect each and every piece of candy. Look for any open wrappers or punctures in the candy wrapper. If ever in doubt, just throw it out! Your child’s safety always comes first. Only allow your child to keep candy that has a wrapper. Any candy without a wrapper should immediately be thrown away.

Trick or Treat Right After School

If your child is still in elementary or middle school, always accompany him or her when trick or treating and go right after school is out. Most schools encourage kids to come to school dressed up in their costumes, so it’s just a matter of having a quick after school snack and heading out the door. Finish up your trick or treating activities by sunset.

In our modern times it’s extremely important for parents to discuss Halloween safety tips and rules for the evening of October 31 with their children of all ages. Make it clear to your kids why these rules are necessary — because they are for their protection.

Posted by Eve

Teaching Your Child About Bullies in School

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Here are some tips for teaching your child about bullies in school.

Sadly, these are the days of extreme bullying in and out of school. Now there’s even “cyber bullying ” on the internet.

Teaching our youth how to recognize a bully is challenging. Yet, it can be done! It is a great concern to all parents who send their kids to school and hope that they are not a victim of a bully. However, you can instill in your child not to be a victim.

Educate Them

First, this can be accomplished by giving them a true definition of a bully. What I told my children is that a bully is a weak and troubled individual. Meaning, he/she can be experiencing some form of mental and/or physical abuse at home and that bullying is there way of “venting” those frustrations. It is totally inappropriate and inexcusable to be bullied by anyone.

Keep the Lines of Communication Open

Making sure that you keep the daily lines of communication with your child is the most important step. Just don’t ask how was your day and accept a generic answer. Ask questions about classroom friends, lunch room habits and their trips home. All of this is asked while looking the child directly in the eye. No one but a parent is going to know if the child is being truthful or not. Talk to your child about the signs of a bully so that they have a better comprehension and can recognize the characteristics. In my opinion, some of the signs of a bully are:

– lack of empathy for others

– opportunist behavior (strikes when an adult is not looking)

– refuses to accept responsibility for wrong behaviors (the other person always deserves it)

– will not see another persons point of view

– enjoys inflicting pain and embarrassment to others

– is overly concerned with others showing them “respect”

– wants to be feared

– a very sore loser

– gets pleasure from always being in control

Teach Them to Lead, Not Follow

When you think about, it all bullies need professional help. Unfortunately, you are not the one who can help them. Yet, what you can do is make sure that your child is a leader and not a follower. Also, ensure that your child knows his or her own self worth. Make sure that they know that no one has the right to disrupt their  day to day confidence while in or out of school.

Your child must always be comfortable when speaking with you about any topic. Communication, whether it be at dinner, before bed, at breakfast or while watching television is paramount to any parents day to day knowledge of their child’s well being in and out of school. My only wish is that I hope this advice about teaching your child about bullies in school can inspire and enlighten parents to be more involved with their children.

 

Posted by Eve

3 Tips for Parenting in the Age of Social Media

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Parenting in the new millennium has become more challenging for parents due to the rise in social media. Social media sites have become a large part of many of our everyday lives. The Pew Research Internet Project estimates that as of May 2013, 74 percent of adult women and 62 percent of men were users of social networking sites. The numbers are even higher for teens with an 81 percent social media usage rate according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

So as a parent you now have technology bursting at the seams. In addition to all of your other duties, you must now teach your children how to use and navigate social media sites with thought and care for their safety and well-being. They can access these sites from a cellular phone, iPad or laptop just about anywhere. Children don’t know it, but they may face real dangers by having the internet at their fingertips at all times. It is the parent’s responsibility to ensure their safety and educate them on these matters. Here are a few habits and rules that you should consider establishing with your children before allowing them to access any and all social media sites.

Set an Internet Access Curfew

For many school age children, the day begins at the crack of dawn. Your child requires a proper night’s rest in order to perform to his fullest ability while at school. Allowing your child to have internet access in his bedroom at all times of the day and night is a mistake. Your child must be taught early on that internet access is a privilege — not a right. Set a firm curfew when Internet access is shut down for the evening. You can just change the password on your router at a certain hour.

Parental Controls

As a parent, you should understand and utilize parental controls to monitor your child’s Internet activity while she is online. First, have a discussion with your child regarding what social media sites are acceptable to visit while using the internet. Let her know that parental controls are in place. Make it clear that any deviation from the rules you set at this meeting will not be tolerated and consequences will be implemented. When the child knows that you’re monitoring her internet usage, she’ll think twice about visiting certain sites and making certain comments online. Many cell phone companies also offer parental control features.

Discretion and Privacy

When you discuss Internet use with your child, take time to talk about appropriate behavior. Some young children and teens think that it’s perfectly fine to share every detail of their lives online, such as their whereabouts and private pictures of themselves hanging out at parties. They don’t realize that in many cases, your social media presence as a youngster cannot ever be erased from history. Explain the consequences of oversharing, including but not limited to:

1)      The possibility of challenges getting into college or finding work in the future if a hiring manager finds questionable social media activity.

2)      Strangers can easily save their pictures.

3)      People they don’t know (including marketers) can gather private information about them that could be used in many different ways for financial gain.

Parenting is a job that requires love, support, patience and diligence. Children should be taught to be aware of all risks to their safety and future, including those that present themselves on social media sites. They need to understand that giving the world full access to their everyday life is not the best idea. Implement these social media tips for parents and instill healthy Internet usage habits in your child starting today.

Sources:

pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/

marketingland.com/pew-the-average-teenager-has-425-4-facebook-friends-44847