Parents Guide to Street Proofing Your Children

Street proofing will assist children in identifying and reacting to suspicious or dangerous circumstances. In addition to teaching your child how to identify a problem, you should also teach them how to react to a situation.

How can your child identify a potential problem or danger?
Familiarity: When walking through your neighbourhood with your child point out regular people, places and activities. Assist your child in recognizing what is normal for your area so they will be more alert to changes.

Be Alert: Make a game of observing activities and people on the street. See how many potential problems you and your child can spot. For example, look for things such as isolated parking lots, poorly lit alleys, abandoned houses and cars stopped near parks.

Have a Plan: Using the same game, ask your child to see if he or she can find where the nearest telephone, corner store, fire hall, or police department is. Ask your child to tell you what they would do to get help if he or she or a friend was in trouble. Tell your child about 911 and when to use it. You can speak to a telephone operator from any pay phone in the province, free of charge. Advise the operator that it is an emergency, and the operator will call 911.

Positive Action: If your child, despite his or her best efforts, finds himself or herself in danger:

If someone physically holds him or her, tell your child to yell, loud and long, and to keep it up until the person lets go or help arrives.
Run - tell your child to put as much distance as possible between him or herself and the problem.
Run directly to the NEAREST safe location such as a neighbour, corner store or police officer and tell an adult what happened, immediately – don't wait to be asked.