Make sure your children know their full name, address (city and state), and their phone number with area code. They should know their parents’ full names.

Be sure kids know how to call 9-1-1 in an emergency and how to use the public phone. Calling 9-1-1 from a pay phone is free.

Tell your children never to accept rides or gifts from someone they or you don’t know really well.

Teach your children to never accept anything from an adult or help an adult “find a lost puppy” unless they have your permission.

Teach children to go to a store clerk, security guard, or police officer if they are lost or need help.

Set a good example with your own actions: lock doors and windows and check to see who’s there before opening the door.

Encourage your children to walk and play with friends--not alone. Tell them to avoid places that could be dangers: vacant buildings, alleys, playgrounds or parks with broken equipment or litter, or someone’s home that you haven’t approved them to be at.

Make sure your children know they are to call a parent or guardian if their plans change, no matter how many times they may change.

Check the school’s policies on absent children. Are parents called when a child is absent?

Teach your child to tell you about suspicious persons.

Leave phone numbers where you can be reached. Post them on the refrigerator, along with numbers for neighbors, family, and friends. Also post the numbers for police, fire, and poison control personnel.

Agree on rules for having friends over and for going to a friend’s house when no adult is home.

Tell your children to never let anyone into the home without your permission, and never let a caller, at the door or on the phone, know there’s no adult home. Let the answering machine pick up.

If someone tries to take your children, have them yell “This is not my Mom/Dad! I need help. Help, I’m being kidnapped.”

Tell your children to run to another adult, grab hold, and say they’re being abducted.

Tell your children to pull a fire alarm and stay close by it.

Do not place clothing on your child with his/her name visible. This includes placing the child’s name on a backpack where it’s visible.

Familiarize yourself and your child with the neighborhood, school routes, neighbors, and your child’s friends. This means meeting other parents and spending time with them. Find out if there are guns in the home. Find out if the parents work, if their home has a pool, and what their rules are for visiting children.