Teaching Your Child Safety
Q. What is the best way to teach safety awareness to young children?
A. The best way is to follow your instincts. It is a natural process. You, your parents, your brothers and sisters, any other close members of your family, and your friends provide just the right input.
You are your child's first and most important teacher. You, your family, and your friends form for your child his or her first and most important social group. Your parent-child relationship is the main model; and you, your relatives, and your friends make up your child's training ground for all future relationships.
You as a parent work around the clock as you nurture, love, guide, support, teach, and protect your child. Safety looms high in your mind at all times. It underlies all other interactions. As a matter of fact, you, with your family and friends provide a safety net for your child. These relationships that you all build up over time are what protect him or her. It is you and all of these people who are nearest and dearest to you who teach your child who to associate with, what to accept from others, what to say, what not to say, and who is okay for getting to know. In addition, through books you read to and with your children about these basic safety precautions, you reinforce the concepts.
While you might think you need a specific formula or some kind of child protection procedure list to follow, it turns out that a major part of the child protective process comes directly from you and your strong family and extended family bonds. You will find that you, your relatives, and your friends tend to do naturally all they can to teach your child to stay close by in busy and crowded places, caution him or her not to run in the street, show him or her how to hold on tight when in a parking lot, and much more. You all cultivate this protective relationship over time. Love is the secret ingredient that makes it all work.
Prevention is always the goal when it comes to handling problems connected with children. As they say, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." However, as we all know, even with the very best of input from you, family and friends, accidents do happen. Where do you go from here?
The first and foremost thing to do in a crisis is to return your child to safety in the fastest and most efficient way possible. Once again, you will know just what to do at just the right time. After that, go right to the attitudes section of the "15 Pillars of Parenting" explained in Constructive Parenting, pp. 15-18. Here is how those pillars apply.
1. Separate the Behavior from Your Child. You do not like that your child ran in the street? but you love your child. After you have protected your child from the harm that could have happened, and after the emotional impact of the event has worn off, begin teaching your child how not to repeat this behavior in the future.
2. Look for the Cause of the Mistaken Behavior. Explore the whole situation thoroughly. Try to figure out if it was caused by a lack of knowledge, a sudden distraction, or even by something that you yourself may have inadvertently said or done. Being able to eliminate the cause is the key to preventing it from happening again.
3. Listen and Communicate. If your child is old enough to give you information from his point of view, by all means listen to it. Even ask for it. Find out as much as you can about what went wrong.
4. Be Positive, Warm, and Supportive. The focus of all communication between you and your child should be on teaching. While you may have gotten excited over the danger and naturally raised your voice at the time, there is no need to chastise your child. You are your child's first and most important teacher.
5. Be a Person, Not a God. Remind yourself right away how many mistakes you make day in and day out. This time your child made one. Share some of your mistakes with your child. Then band together to wipe out this safety problem. Neither one of you wants to see this danger ever happen again.
Spring brings with it the freshness of changes. It is a time of rebirth and a new beginning. Rest assured that you, your family, and your friends are all working naturally on your child's safety. In addition, you now know with confidence how to handle any dangerous situation that might arise. Enjoy the freshness of spring with a great feeling of security in your child's safety.
Ask your questions to Dr. Sally at drsally@drsallyparenting.com., www.drsallyparenting.com, 561-715-9115.
Sally Goldberg, Ph.D., professor of education and author, is an adjunct instructor at Nova Southeastern University and at the University of Phoenix Online. She is also a well-known national conference presenter who gives workshops, presentations, and keynote speeches. You will also see and hear Dr. Goldberg as a frequent specialist on TV and radio. She has a bachelor's and a master's degree from Cornell University. She also has a Ph.D. from the University of Miami. She is a regular writer for the Parent Guide, a Tampa Bay magazine, Today's Parent, a South Florida newspaper, Parents' Monthly, a Sacramento magazine, and Viewpointe, a Palm Beach County newspaper. She is also often quoted in major national magazines and newspapers.
Powered by Feedzilla
Contact Us Today For Ad Information... Ebooks, Scripts,
Websites, and more... 21 Reasons I Love Being A DadWhat you will read... Read More Does your child pout, blame and brood? Does he gripe,... Read More There are many parenting styles. Yours may be very different... Read More Isn't the technology of today is amazing?! Between the speed... Read More "Walk through any toy store and you will see walls... Read More Spare the rod, spoil the child!This philosophy's been around a... Read More Wooden toys are one of the best alternatives for the... Read More Look around: Your kids are counting sleeps until the last... Read More 1. STOP focusing on what you are going to make... Read More This time, I would like to talk about a subject... Read More In the last few years, parents started getting more and... Read More "Just turn the lights off and go to sleep"Do you... Read More It was no contest. Given a choice between a ball... Read More Here we will come to know who are the most... Read More Adderall is a stimulant medication used in the treatment of... Read More Raising a pre-teen or teenage daughter (or son) is not... Read More Reading is the most important skill that a child must... Read More Saying no to our children is not always easy or... Read More Kitchens are where everything happens. It's not just where meals... Read More With the beginning of the new school year coming VERY... Read More "I could have helped you if I would have known,... Read More When our oldest son was 2, my wife went out... Read More "I wipe my baby's chin with my college diploma and... Read More She slipped her small, soft eight-year-old hand into mine. Her... Read More Many families do not want to believe their child is... Read More
Cheap Domain Names
A Dads Thoughts On Dads day
Parents, Teach Thought-Stopping! Fix Crooked Thinking Caps
Parenting - Give Your Child The Tools To Build Strong Character And Values
3 Rules to Making TeensTechnology Work For You
Old-Fashioned Ways to Inspire Children
Spare the Child, Ditch the Rod
Choosing Wooden Toys For Children
5 Simple Steps Guaranteed To Allow You To Spend More Time With Your Children This Summer
Parenting Your Teenager: 6 Things to Stop Doing Right Away
Develop Your Childs Genius: Training Your Child for Success
Guide To Choosing Educational Toys For Children
Mommy, I Can?t Sleep! Sleep Disturbance in Children
Childrens Books And Educational Toys - Can They Still Be Fun And Have Educational Value
Bad Company
Adderall and Its Side-Effects
A Guide To Help You Teach Your Children Positve Self-Image Through Fitness
Dyslexia: Is the Shoe Perhaps on the Wrong Foot?
Saying No To Our Children
Parenting in the Kitchen ? Lessons in Cooking, Socializing, and Bonding
Achieve Success At School - Parents, Help Your Kids Easily Be Top, Honor-Roll Students!
Parents - Create An Emotionally Healthy Connection With Your Child
How Fathers Can Step Up to Fathering
The Graceful Art of Defrazzling - For Mothers
Dad, Go Ahead and Cry
Signs of Child Sexual Abuse
Contact Us Today For Ad Information... Do you know what these famous people have in common?Alexander... Read More We're all familiar with the over-indulgent parent. But there's another... Read More Recently I took my two children to a popular new... Read More Although, not a well publicized statistic, childhood obesity has more... Read More Being consistent when children are less than perfect can make... Read More Some years ago when touring the Scottish Highlands, a man... Read More Most of the ADHD kids that are seen in a... Read More If you visit search engines you can find several resources... Read More I am in pain. I've been in pain all day.... Read More How would you like to have more time? Of course... Read More Self-reliance and potential are two very important values that I'd... Read More According to the American Sleep Association 70% of all babies... Read More When we consider that the word allowance means, "allowing for,"... Read More How can two or three children in the same family... Read More Peaceful Parenting® ideas are very different from other kinds of... Read More What is Happening in the brain of children, teens, and... Read More Back in college, I wrote for a five-day-a-week, award-winning campus... Read More According to a September 2004 study by the RAND Corporation,... Read More Memorabilia ? Children can create enough artwork for an entire... Read More Here are fourteen spontaneous time-outs, specially designed to help you... Read More Advocate: you've probably heard the term before. But what does... Read More Why do some children still do best after divorce and... Read More Although it might seem pretty corny to a lot of... Read More Vinegar or honey, what do kids really want? "Toys, candy,... Read More There is no doubt that the benefits of being a... Read More
Affordable and Reliable Web
Hosting Starting
What Is Homeschooling And How Do I know If Its Right For My Family?
Over-Indulgence And Over-Attentiveness - Two Dangers Parents Must Avoid!
Playground Pettiness
Avoid Weight Problems In Children
Why Consistency Is The Key To Raising Well-behaved Kids
Study Skills - How Can YOU Help Your Kids?
What is Hyperactivity in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?
After the Driving School
Muscle Pain And Children Do Not Mix
Parenting Your Teenager: The 4 Ds of Time with Family
How To Teach Your Children Self-Reliance and Potential
Three Tips to Get Children with Sleeping Problems Asleep
Childrens Allowance
Why First Borns Fuss, Seconds Are Resilient and Last Borns Like To Laugh
How Is Peaceful Parenting® Different?
The Neurology of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Part One
How to Set Healthy Limits at Work
The Effects of Televised Sexual Content on Adolescents
Children and Mom and Paper
14 Romantic Time-Outs for Parents
Advocating for Your Child with LD
What Parents Should Do For Children To Do Their Best After Divorce?
Andy Griffith Show Family Lessons
Build Character with this Delicious Triple A Recipe!
How To Entertain A Child While Working From A Home Office
Parenting |