How to Raise Street Smart Kids

Keeping your kids safe isn't just up to you or the people around them. Raise your children to be street smart by preparing them for unpleasant situations. It's not easy to talk about things like sexual molestation, kidnapping or getting lost at night, but they need to know what they can do to prevent these.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Always know where they are. Get the home phone and cell phone numbers for all of their friends and friends' parents.

2. Find out who else is going to be where your kids are. Ask about strangers staying overnight or going on the trip your child is going on.

3. Raise your child to "hug a tree." When he's lost, teach him to stay in one place instead of wandering around so you can find him.

4. Be smart by putting together identification kits for your kids. Update photos annually, list descriptive details (age, height, weight) and take their fingerprints. The Klaas Kids Foundation has documents you can download to help you.

5. Teach your kids to run away from an adult asking them to get in their car. Pick a password that's easy to remember, like "jumping giraffe" or "M&M monkey," and train your kids to use it whenever someone claims their mom said it was okay to go with them.

6. Be open about what's appropriate touching and what isn't. No matter how uncomfortable it feels, role-play situations so they get in the habit of saying "no" and running away.

7. Find the safest street to and from school and walk it several times with your kids to make sure they know it. Teach them to be aware of their surroundings and watch out for adults following them on foot or in a car.

Tips & Warnings

• Raise your kids to wait for the green light to cross the street no matter what their friends or other adults are doing.
• Explain that it's smart to drop their backpack or book bag and everything they're carrying when they have to run away from a stranger.
• Talk to neighbors along your child's school route about setting up "safe houses" that kids can turn to if they feel they're being pursued.