Security and Safety, Personal Protection Courses for Children

Personal Safety for Children

There are various techniques Security And Safety use to teach parents how to protect their children.

We ask parents to think about what their child will do if mum or dad has an accident in the house with them – Can they use the telephone? Who would they phone and where is their number kept? Do they know basic First Aid? Is there a 'safe' house they can get help from? Is there a house you definitely would not want them to go to?

We ask parents to also ensure that there is a wide spectrum of support for their child. Different problems (accidents, abuse, bullying) need different people and a child needs to have contact with aunts, uncles, friends, teachers, etc. to allow them to make up their own mind as to who they go to with a particular problem.

And we also ask them to think about strangers – what does a stranger look like according to your child? Usually, a child will have a conception of a dark, ‘fairy-tale baddie’ type of person so parents need to set the record straight and tell them a stranger is anyone they don’t know – no matter how nice, friendly or caring they appear to be.

Does your child know what to do if approached by a stranger? Do they know who to report a stranger to? If a stranger gets physical, can your child defend itself?

Security And Safety not only recommend that your child learns self defence but also teach it.

What if your child gets lost? Be sure your child knows what to do if you become separated in a public place. And a tip for parents is to always have a current picture of your child and know what clothing they are wearing each time they leave your home.

As the number of child abductions seems to be increasing, Security And Safety recommends taking your child’s safety a little step further;

Personal Attack Alarms
If going on holiday, take a personal attack alarm with you. These can be picked up for under £5 and most come with door attachments. If your child is old enough to understand its use, let them carry one in their pocket. If they get attacked or snatched by a stranger, they can activate the alarm and hopefully summon assistance.

At night, the alarm can be attached to the handle of your room door (either using the sticky fixers provided on some models or by looping the pull cord over the handle onto the door frame) and this will activate of anyone enters the room unexpectedly.

Wireless Handheld Video
We also recommend wireless, handheld video monitors for extra peace of mind. These cost from £100 – over £350 depending on make, model and range and work similar to baby monitors (some models can even pan and tilt to follow the movement of your child while they sleep).

Most good models come with automatic night vision and the camera can be placed in your room to monitor your child while you pop out for a meal or drink.

The infra red video images are transmitted to a hand held monitor (some are colour but cheaper models are usually black & white) and this usually includes a built in microphone so you can hear as well as see your child. The range varies from 30 metres to 150 metres plus.

Location Devices
If you are worried that your child may get lost in busy areas while on holiday or even down your local shopping centre, there are a variety of safety devices which can help you keep tabs on your child’s location. The devices consist of a transmitter, which is fitted to your child's wrist or clothing, and a signal receiver, which constantly monitors how far away your child is.

The moment your child strays away from you, the transmitter sends a signal to the receiver which activates and emits a sound signal to alert you of the possible danger.

The transmitter can be set to activate if your child strays as little as 2 metres away from you or as much as 200 metres (depending on make / model).

Many of these location monitoring devices are shaped like teddy bears, pandas, cute faces, etc. to encourage your child to wear them and they cost from just over £10 to as much as £100, again depending on the make and range.

Some models even have a tracking mode which will enable the parents to find the lost child by following audio or visual cues.