Keeping Teens Safe

There seems to be an abundance of public awareness for children’s safety issues. Stranger Danger isn’t a household term for nothing, after all.  But our kids are kids for longer than we think.  As our little children grow into stomping, chomping, clomping teenagers, it can be easy to forget that inside they are still children.  As such, they still need the help and guidance of their parents to keep them safe from danger.

I know, parenting a teenager is risky business.  How can you possibly get them to learn self defense, let alone learn anything at all.  After all, you are the one who now knows very little about things in their eyes.  Well, mom and dad; you know the truth.  As difficult as teens can seem, they really do need (and want) to know that you have their back.

With the recent national news stories of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois, two Southern California teens raped and murdered a year apart by the same man; parents all over the country are rethinking how safe our teenagers really are.  So what steps can you take to ensure the safety of your teen?  What can you do to help them learn self defense so they can protect themselves when they are out with friends?  You can play it cool.

Anytime a parent wigs out; a teen is going to run in the opposite direction.  This is just the nature of the parent-child relationship in this phase of life.  So even though you have concerns, try playing it cool and simply talking with your teen about personal safety issues.   In fact, I would suggest taking the talk to a new level and actually getting a self defense DVD that they can watch either with you or with a friend.

Be honest with your teen about the things that are happening in the world around them.  Safety concerns reach out to both guys and girls; and your honest evaluation and disclosure to them – without theatrics – will show them that the real world outside of high school can be dangerous.  Shoot, violence happens in schools now almost as much as out on the streets!

But here’s the thing; if you talk, they will listen.  If you show them a self defense DVD and say “look at what you can learn to do to someone”, they might jump right on it.  There are no guarantees; but just like anything with parenting, this talk is not a one time thing.  If you are living the self defense lifestyle, your kids will see that and they will pick up on it.  What teenager doesn’t want to be a badass?!

The tips that teens follow are just the same as those that you follow.  They need to make sure they are off their phone and looking at the world.  They need to stay in groups.  But the difference is that they need to tell people where they are.  A friend of mine tells her teenagers that she needs to know where they are so if something were to happen she can get them help right away.  If you don’t know where your kid is and they need you; you can’t help them.  If, God forbid, they disappear, you have no clue where to start the search unless they have told you their whereabouts.

Teens are tricky creatures, this is for sure.  They respond to being treated like adults.  Do this as much as possible, especially when talking to them about their personal safety.  Their lives really could depend on it.

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