Home Alone: ​​Child Safety Briefing Without Adults

From a certain age, the child periodically remains at home alone, without adults. But this does not mean that it is automatically in security. There are several rules that need to be properly instilled in a child.

1. You can't go to the front door when someone calls

The child must clearly know that all adults who have access to the apartment have keys, they will enter themselves. In extreme cases, they will call him or write to his smartphone, shout under the windows.

The rule "do not open the door to strangers" is not entirely correct: in the process of finding out who is behind the door, the child can be confused, and he will open it even to strangers. Clearly define the algorithm for how you will act if you really forget the keys. Come up with a passphrase that tells your child that Mom or Dad is asking to open the door.

2. Do not respond to requests and demands

If from the other side the door is menacingly reported that the police have come, that the parents are now being arrested, that help is needed for a sick person or a kitten, in no case should they be opened. You need to call your parents right away.

3. You cannot lock the child so that he cannot open the door

There is always a risk of force majeure. For example, a fire breaks out or the child needs some other urgent help. He should be able to leave the house.

4. Identify a trusted person

Ideally, if a person lives near you (a neighbor, a relative, a close acquaintance) who can check how the child is doing if he suddenly does not answer calls. But this should be a person you know very well, and the child should be warned that this person has the right to enter the house.

5. Don't leave your child if he doesn't fully understand the rules

By and large, children under 14 cannot be left at home. In which case, the parents are to blame. But in reality, such a child's independence comes much earlier. To do this, you need to play in advance possible cases that will happen to the child and check his reaction.

6. Leave a note with numbers

Yes, now all information is stored in smartphones. But they can fail, and the caller can mask the number, for example, under the name "Mom". Therefore, the child should have a clear list of numbers where you need to call back if an incomprehensible or problematic situation occurs. And it will not be superfluous to write the numbers of emergency services (having discussed the responsibility for false calls).

7. Secure your home space

All dangerous, piercing-cutting, poisonous objects, medicines should be maximally inaccessible. If the child is hesitant to use the stove, it is better to turn off the gas completely before the adults leave. All windows must be closed with special locks so that they can only be opened for ventilation.

It is not uncommon for a child to go out onto the balcony, and the door closes behind him and then does not open. First, tell your child to support the door.

Secondly, take your smartphone with you. Third, leave something heavy on the balcony to break the glass in the balcony door if necessary (for example, if the front door to the apartment is closed so that it is impossible to get inside from the outside without cutting it out completely).

8. Tell us what to do in each emergency

The child should know specifically what to do if things catch fire? If you flooded your neighbors? If someone picks the lock or breaks down the door? If there is "police" under the door? If you cut yourself badly and bleed? If you break something glass? What can you eat and where can you get it?

You will also be interested to read:

• At what age can you leave a child alone
• Safe outdoor behavior
• How to teach your child safety so they don't fall victim to violence