How I Aim to Teach My Child About the Dangers of the Outside World

As a new mom, I have a lot of planning and preparation for my child’s future. There are practicalities, such as money and clothes to think about. But there are also other considerations. And these are the things they don’t tell you about enough in parental guides. Things like how to answer the question ‘where do babies come from?’, and making your kids aware of dangers.

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Like it or not, these are things our children need to know about. So, I’ve already started planning for how I’m going to teach my kids about the dangers of the outside world. Not in an alarmist sense, but I do feel that it’s important to prepare kids and keep them informed. So, this is how I aim to teach my child about the dangers of the real world.

Explain Home Security to Them

First up, I will start the closest and most obvious - the home. I will talk about home security, and what we have in and around the home. I will then ask my daughter to list all the things she thinks constitutes home security. Making a game out of it engages them more. At my place we have CCTV systems. We have to buy fences direct from fence companies to protect our yard. And we have a state-of-the-art intruder alarm. I will make her aware of all of these elements. Then I will ease into why we need home security. And the fact that there are people out there who want to take what isn’t theirs. But reassurance is important too, so I’ll need to mention that these are just precautions. I don’t want to worry her.

Tell Them About Strangers

Another important thing that I feel we need to make out kids aware of is the risk of strangers. Now, fortunately, this is something that gets covered brilliantly in schools as well. So as parents we can work in unison with what the kids are learning in school. It’s important to make your child aware of the fact that they shouldn’t trust or talk to strangers at a young age. The trick will be deciding when I enter into this discussion with my kid.

Be Honest

I always find that honesty is the best policy in these situations. I have a friend who has recently had this convo with her kids. And she decided to be as honest and upfront as possible. Children need to be told the truth when they’re young, so they learn about it when they’re older. They might get confused if information you later give them is contradictory. Talk with them about 9/11; let them know there are bad people in the world. But reassure them that you will protect them and look after them. My approach will be total honesty, however, I will make sure I don’t frighten or alarm as well.

Give Them a Phone

When my kid gets a bit older, I’m going to consider giving her a cell phone. This is something my husband and I will need to discuss first, though. It’s important to choose the right age for this kind of thing. But, a phone is an important part of this learning process. By giving your child their own phone you give them a way of contacting you if they need to. And you should encourage them to do that. I feel like I might want to regulate my child’s phone regularly, and set some parental controls.

It’s a dangerous world out there, and our children are so naive and innocent. So we need to do what we can to protect them from the risks and dangers they face. These are some of the ways I’m going to use to teach my child about the dangers and risks in the world.