Teaching Your Teen to Stay Safe While Going Out With Friends
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It’s scary when teens start to grow up and
become independent. While your first urge may be to lock them in the
basement until they’re 18, that probably won’t work out well. Since we
can’t keep our children by our side all the time, it’s important to take
steps to keep them safe when we’re not around.
As with most issues, start talking to your teens early. Teach them what
kind of behaviour you expect from them and what you won’t tolerate. Also
teach them how to say no when they don’t want to do something, and how
to get out of various bad situations. You may even want to go as far as
role playing with your child.
Set clear rules and boundaries for your teen. Make sure they know ahead
of time what they are and are not allowed to do. Set a strict curfew and
make sure they understand what the consequences will be if they break
the rules. If they break the rules, be firm. When you make rules and
don’t stick to them, you’re child is less likely to follow them.
Ask your teen where they are going and what they are doing. Take it upon
yourself to make sure they are where they say they are. This doesn’t
mean you need to follow them around town, but you should call parents of
the friends they’re going with and double check the plans and just to
ensure they’re safe. You may also consider getting them a cell phone so
they can check in every so often. While you may think your children will
feel oppressed by this behaviour, they will also know you care what
happens and feel more responsible about keeping out of unsafe
situations.
While you may be more concerned about the trouble your teen and their
friends might be causing, you should also be aware of people trying to
hurt them. Teens are the most victimized of any age group. Make sure
your teen knows how to defend themselves. You may even want to consider
enrolling them in a self defence or martial arts class. The good thing
about these classes is that they stress defence and escape.
While you can’t protect your teen all the time, you can guide them
towards making good choices to help them stay safe.
