Keeping Your Kids Safe Outdoors
In a world where social media and video games rule, it’s a great thing when kids want to play outdoors. Not only does it give you some peace and quiet, but it’s the perfect way for them to get some fresh air, blow off a bit of steam, and enjoy all that nature has to offer.
Protective Parents
Some parents, however, can be a little bit reticent about allowing their children to play outdoors alone. Consumed by thoughts of all the potential dangers which lurk in ordinary backyards, they opt instead to either keep a careful eye on their kids at all times. This often results in the children not being able to play outside at all unless one or other parent is looking after them.
Protecting Doesn’t Just Mean Prevention
Whilst it’s understandable that any parent would want to keep their children safe, this kind of over-protective parenting is often not in the best interests of the child. After all, we don’t prevent our kids from learning to crawl, do we? No! We simply cover up all the sharp corners and let them explore to their heart’s content. The same attitude should be taken towards letting your kids play outside. Protecting shouldn’t just be about prevention.
Educate Your Children
There are two great tactics that you can adopt to make sure your children stay safe outside. The first is to educate them about all the possible dangers. Do you have a pool? Make sure your kids know to stay away from it when you’re not there, and that they realise the cover does not constitute a firm surface on which to play! Do you live near a busy road? Road safety is of paramount importance, so sit your kids down and teach them about traffic. Do your children like to rough-house? Playing rough can be fun, but make sure they’re aware of what to do if someone gets hurt.
Give Yourself Peace of Mind
The second tactic is to implement a series of safety prevention techniques that will give you some added peace of mind, without impinging on your children’s ability to have fun. If you have a pool, make sure to install a pool alarm. This handy device will go off the second something enters the water, so if one of your kids falls in (or jumps!), you’ll definitely know about it. And if you have a gate on your yard or property barrier, Barrier Components offer a device called a ‘gate closer’ which will ensure that this exit remains closed at all times.