The Importance Of Teaching The Kids About Home Security
If there’s one thing that scares us mommas, more than anything, it’s the idea of an intruder entering our homes. The idea of a stranger being in our homes – our safe place, our retreat from the rest of the world – is totally and completely terrifying, especially as you have no idea of what they could do.
A burglary takes place in the US every 18 seconds, which equates to 200 burglaries being committed an hour, and around 4800 a day. What this means is that break-ins are fairly common, and so, it’s important that your children understand what a break in is, how to prevent an intruder from entering your home, and what to do should a burglary take place.
With that in mind, below is some advice for teaching kids about home security and helping to prevent break-ins.
Don’t allow your kids to open the front door
A common way that intruders gain entry to houses is by being let in through the front door. This might sound a little odd but believe it or not, a lot of intruders pose as salesmen, meter readers, and people in other professional capacities, who are then let into the property before robbing it, either through force or when you’re out of the room. Now, the chances are that you already know not to let strangers into your home, regardless of who they say that they are. Your children, however, do not. A lot of kids love opening the door, however, if you want to prevent strangers being let into your home, you need to implement a rule that says they may not open the front door, no matter who the person behind it says that are.
Teach your kids about the security measures you have in place
An important part of teaching kids about household break-ins is teaching them about the security measures you have in place to prevent them. So, sit down with your children and explain what you’ve done to make household invasions more unlikely, such as reinforcing your door, installing a security alarm, creating a panic room, and investing in security lighting. It’s also a good idea to teach your child how each security measure works, just in case they ever need to know how to work them.
Explain the importance of keeping doors and windows locked
Kids have a tendency to open doors and windows without any thought. So it’s important to talk to your children about the importance of ensuring that doors and windows are always kept locked when not in use, especially when you are not going to be at home. Explain to them that by leaving a door or window open, an intruder could gain entry to your home and steal some of your valued possessions. So it’s important that everyone in the family does their part to keep your home safe.
When talking to your little ones about home security, it’s important to ensure that you don’t scare them. You want to explain to them why it’s important to be wary of strangers entering your home, but you don’t want to scare them.