Teach Children Personal Safety and Safe Houses

Teach your children to navigate to your family's safe houses, find their own way home, use escape routes, and call for help from anywhere.

The cadence of teaching and practice sessions is not stated by the source; you choose how often to run these teaching and practice sessions.

1. 01

   Begin teaching your children about your family's designated safe houses and relocation sites, and make sure they know how to get there — walk the routes with them. Explain to them what each site is and the purpose it serves, and teach them how to get to these safe havens in case of an emergency, especially if they find themselves home alone or they ever get lost.

   Recurring · on your cadenceDone when: Your children can name each designated safe house or relocation site, what it is for, and how to get there.

2. 02

   Take your children for a walk, disorient them, and then ask them to lead the way — make sure they know your neighborhood and the lay of the land.

   Recurring · on your cadenceDone when: Your children can lead the way back from an unfamiliar point in your neighborhood.

3. 03

   If you feel that your children need extra precautions, demonstrate for them what window is safest to climb out of or the best ingress and egress points, then have them practice their escape routes more than once.

   Recurring · on your cadenceDone when: Your children have practiced their escape routes more than once.

4. 04

   Have your kids memorize important telephone numbers — your cell or work line, a friend or relative who can look after them — so that they can call from anywhere.

   Recurring · on your cadenceDone when: Your children can recite the memorized telephone numbers from memory.