Safety Tips: Child Safety

More On Safety Tips

ADT is committed to helping you protect your family. Listed below are some helpful tips that will help you maximize your children's safety and security, brought to you directly from ADT.

• If your children are old enough and responsible enough to be home alone without adult supervision, be sure they know these safety essentials:
• The fire escape route
• Where emergency phone numbers and rules are posted
• Basic first-aid skills
• Safe route home from school
• What to do if your ADT monitored system goes off
• Make sure your children know who is allowed in the home while you are away, and how to check an individual's identity before opening the door.
• When your children play outside, be sure they know exactly what their physical boundaries are and how to react to strangers.
• Teach them what to do if the alarm goes off, signaling an intruder.

Safety Tips for Young Children

You're always going to worry about your children, but here are some basic steps you can take to make sure your children know how to handle difficult situations.

• Make sure your children memorize their full names, address including city and state, and phone number with area code.
• Using a play phone, teach children when and how to dial 911 or 0 and also show them how to operate a pay phone.
• Explain to your children that they should never accept gifts or rides from people they don't know well.
• Teach your children to go to a store clerk, security officer or police officer if they ever get lost in a store or mall or on the street.
• Set a good example by locking doors and windows and checking to see who it is before opening a door.
• Listen to what your children say about their fears and help them understand them and trust their instincts.

Staying Safe When Home Alone

• Always leave a phone number where you can be reached along with numbers for neighbors and emergency services right by the phone.
• Have your children check in with you when they arrive home or use the paging feature on an ADT monitored system to alert you that your children have arrived home safely.
• Set rules for having friends over when you're not there and for your children going to friends' homes when no adults are present.
• Let your children practice operating door and window locks.
• Explain how important it is not to let anyone into the house without your permission.
• Teach them to not reveal on the phone or at the door that no adults are home, but to instead say their parents are too busy to come to the phone or door.
• Rehearse the home fire escape plan with your children.