Child safety tips

Fire Safety
Every year in Canada about 1,300 fires are started by children. These fires result in an average of 20 deaths and 150 burn injuries. Kids need to know that matches and lighters are not toys. Instruct your children to let you know when they find either matches or lighters. Set a good example. Don~t ever let your children see you horsing around with fire or candles and matches, with lighters or lighter fluid, with barbecue equipment or any other flammable materials.

Be sure to have smoke detectors and a carbon monoxide detector installed on each floor, especially near the sleeping areas. Replace the batteries regularly-using the same schedule for changing clocks at the beginning and end of Daylight Saving Time is a good idea. Have a family plan for escaping from a home fire, and practise it as a family at regular intervals, even making the alarm ring so kids know what it sounds like. The escape plan should have two routes for getting off each floor, and should
identify a place for everyone to meet when they get out. Everyone should know to call 911, but the kids should know that this is primarily the responsibility of the adults in the family.

Teach kids:
• to call out to or awaken the rest of the family if they're the first
• to notice the fire or hear the alarm.
• to never hide in a closet or in another room.
• to get out of the house as fast as possible.
• to call 911 and give their address as soon as they are outside.
• to never try going through the flames.
• to get down on the ground if they see smoke, and crawl underthe smoke.
• to cover their nose and mouth with a wet facecloth, if there's time to get one.
vto drop to the ground outside if their clothes have caught fire, and roll over and over to smother the flames.
• to not go back inside to save pets, video games, or any other valuables.
• to learn how to use a home fire extinguisher for small fires.
• to learn that putting a lid on a burning pot or pan will help to smother a small fire.

Safety from Sexual Abuse
Studies show that the person most likely to abuse a child sexually is a family member, a close family friend, or someone with authority over the child. How can you protect your child? First of all, monitor your world and the people in it. We ask kids to trust their intuition; parents should do the same. If a situation doesn't feel right, then it probably isn't. Err on the side of caution when you give other adults access to your child, even if they are adults you have trusted up to now.

Talk to your child about what's appropriate touching and what's inappropriate, However, don't make him feel that he's totally responsible for his own safety. Saying "If anyone touches you, tell them No" isn't always helpful. Any child in an abusive situation is not free to say No. He's too frightened and alone, Let your child know that he can come to you with any concern about his body, about someone touching him in a way that doesn't feel right, or about any sexual question and that you will not be angry with him. He needs to know that there are no taboo subjects in your family so that he'll feel safe enough to confide in you if anyone tries to involve him in sexual acts.

Excerpted from Raising great Kids: Ages 6 to 12 by Christine Langlois. Copyright 1999 by Telemedia Communications Inc. Excerpted, with permission by Ballantine Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.