The crisis and kids’ safety

Maria Christina Concepcion

HOW about our children? How can we ensure their safety? Classes will officially start next week and I am sure most parents are now anxious about the safety of their children. Is there a way to make sure that our children are safe when they are on their way to school, while they are inside their school campuses attending their classes, and as they come home after school at the end of the day? Yes, there is a way, and as parents it will be well if we start teaching our children about emergency preparedness while school opening is still a few days away.

To start, we should talk to our children heart to heart. We have to explain to them what’s happening and assure them that the authorities are doing their best to address the situation. While conversing with our children, especially the young ones, we have to make sure that they understand what we are saying and the best way to know if they understood is to let them repeat back to us what we just told them. Let’s encourage them to ask questions. We must be sensitive to their responses to what we tell them. As parents we should remember that our children may react in different ways. Some children may experience fear and anxiety while some will not. Again, we should be mindful of their reaction so that we will know how to address them. If they are scared for example, we have to assure them that being scared is normal and that even adults feel afraid at times. The best way to help our children cope with their fear is to assure them that we will be there to keep them safe the best way we know how.

To prepare our children for emergencies, especially if the emergency happens while they are outside our homes and away from us, we have to have a family emergency plan which includes the following:

An agreed meeting place where all the members of the family will meet should an emergency situation happen and going home is not possible.

All members of the family must have the contact numbers of at least three persons who are not immediate family members, and these persons should be contacted in case of emergency and where direct contact with family members is not possible.

As a family, survival instructions must be discussed at home. As parents we should teach our children how to keep themselves hydrated (by drinking enough water), how to maintain their energy (by eating candies or chocolates), how to treat simple wounds, bruises, cuts, and minor burns, and how to make fire (remember what we all learned during our Girl Scout/Boy Scout days?).

It is also suggested that children be taught the three response options for emergency situations. Our children can choose from the three response options based on their own judgment of the situation they are in. These three options are as follows:

Get Out: If it is possible to get away from danger, they have to go to a safe place. Teachers, leaders and first responders will come to find them the soonest they can.

Keep Out: If it is not possible to get out of the building or out of harm’s way, they have to keep danger out of the room by locking and blocking doors and staying away from windows.

Hide Out: They have to stay out of sight from danger by hiding behind large pieces of furniture. They must try to stay as quiet as they can so that they will know if the danger is over and it’s safe to get out.

It is also very critical that we teach our children to follow their teachers. The teachers as well as the other adults in the schools will be working to keep them safe. It’s very important that the children will listen to the teachers for instructions and directions.

As parents it is our sacred duty to protect our children from harm and danger, and the best way we can to that is to prepare them so that when they are alone and by themselves, they will know exactly what to do, because we taught them well.

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Make preparations in advance–you will never have trouble if you are prepared for it.”