Well, here we are! It’s officially summer break at Calvin Christian. Students have cleared out their desks, took home their piles of art projects, turned in Chromebooks and cleaned out their lockers. As a mother of a 7, 10 and 13 year old, my mind often wonders about what I will do to keep my kids busy this summer. We’ll make some plans for play dates, beach trips, play dates at the park, riding bikes around the neighborhood and one of our favorites, a trip to Barnes & Noble to pick out some books for summer reading.
Another thing that will inevitably be on my mind is summer safety (the buddy system, stranger danger, body safety, etc). In our home, we have a list of safety rules posted on the refrigerator to help remind our kids. Recently, I read a blog post from a parent who taught her kids about “tricky people”. Teaching children to recognize a good stranger vs. a person that could potentially be dangerous (a “tricky stranger”) is critical.
Here’s an excerpt from that blog post –
Have you heard of the tricky people concept? Tricky people are the new strangers. Pattie Fitzgerald, the creator of Safely Ever After where the tricky people concept originated says, “Stop telling your kids not to talk to strangers. They might need to talk to a stranger one day. Instead, teach them which sorts of strangers are safe.”
One of her guidelines for knowing what people are unsafe is the rule CJ remembered in time of need: tricky people ask kids for help. If a safe adult needs help, they’ll ask another adult. Not a kid. Pattie includes many other tips and rules for staying safe under her “prevention tips” tab on her Safely Ever After website. This website also does a great job of re-capping her life-saving information.
You can read more from this blog repost above by clicking HERE.
Have a fun and safe summer!
