Better Safe Than Sorry...

Don’t talk to strangers, safety in numbers, don’t look like a victim, be aware...etc... As parents, we say these very important phrases all the time! But what does it really mean, and how do you teach your daughter to stay out of danger?

Imagine you’re watching the Discovery Channel, and it’s one of those nature shows. It pans across a huge field with hundreds of Zebra grazing and eating grass, and all of a sudden you see a pack of lions approach...what do you think the Zebra would do?

A. The Zebra hang out a bit thinking maybe the lions will come back some other time.

B. The Zebra aren’t quite finished eating yet, so they finish up before leaving.

C. The Zebra SCRAM...who wants to get eaten! “C” is the ANSWER!

So how come we stick around in situations where we feel uncomfortable?

Here are a few tips help train yourself and your daughter to recognize and avoid danger:

1. Know Your Zones!
Imagine a traffic light... it has a “GREEN” light, a “YELLOW” light and a “RED” light. Each of those lights tells you something important. Green light says it’s safe to go, while a red light says STOP. The yellow light tells you to proceed with caution.

Safety “Zones” are just like that... except we don’t have a light to tell us which zone we’re in, all we have is our senses. So how does this translate? Let me give you some examples:

Green Zone: This is the safe zone! This is the place where your kids feel safe. Example: at home, or out with you (the parents etc).

Red Zone: Danger Zone! This is the get me the heck out of here zone! In this zone their guard is up, and adrenaline is pumping--ex: dark parking lot, or walking home at night from a friend’s house.

Yellow Zone: This is the caution zone! Kids may feel a bit more relaxed in this place, ex: walking to the car with you the parents, at school, shopping at the mall, or hanging at the movie theater, etc.

Teach your daughter about Zones and make sure she knows how to identify her Yellow Zones as they are the most dangerous.

2. Scan With A Plan
How do you teach your daughter to stay aware without being paranoid? Scan with a Plan -- Teach them to keep their eyes on their surroundings, and teach them how to look for things that seem out of place.

Ask them, when they look around do they look from left to right or right to left when scanning their surroundings? Do they look near and far? What would they do if they DID see something or if they felt uncomfortable?

Being aware is one of the most important things you can do to spot potential danger. To practice, take your daughter and go outside. Once you’re out there you have 30 seconds to scan your environment and describe what you see. Now I’m not talking about big things like cars and trees... I’m talking about smaller things like a blue striped ball across the street in the gutter kind of thing.

ONLY DUMB bad guys stick out like a sore thumb... when scanning your environment it pays to look for the little things like shadows, shoes, fingers, or anything that seems out of place!

3. Have a Plan: If your daughter is uncomfortable or feels that something isn't quite right, it's our job to teach them what to do. No matter how minor the situation tell them to get out of that situation immediately and get an adult. It's much better to be safe than sorry... even if they feel embarrassed for making assumptions.

Help your daughter to know her zones, scan her surroundings and have a plan! I also recommend finding a good self-defense workshop in your community - practice makes perfect.