Importance of teaching your child personal safety

Pattie Fitzgerald, Child Safety Expert, shares advice for parents on the importance of teaching your children personal safety in a way that kids can understand so to not scare them
Kids Safety Tips | Importance Of Teaching Kids Personal Safety
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Importance of teaching your child personal safety

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It's really important to talk to our kids about personal safety because they shouldn't have to protect themselves by themselves. They need us, they need their parents to give them the right language, to teach them to trust their instincts; and as parents, we need to minimize the opportunity that they can be in a risky situation. We need to talk to our kids about safety so that eventually they can be in the world without us helicoptering over them 24/7. So what do you say? You give them what I call mom vibe or kid friendly language. Talk to your kids about tricky people. Somebody who tries to trick you into doing something that feels yucky or uncomfortable, or scares you. Somebody who tells you, "Keep a secret from mom or dad. This is private, just between us two." The minute a kid hears the the word secret, it should be like an alarm going off - "Secret, secret. I have to tell. No secrets from my mom or dad." We should be using kid friendly language so that they can be independent, and be out there in the world interacting with the soccer coach, the music teacher, the english teacher, their next door neighbor; without being victimized and without being scared.

Pattie Fitzgerald, Child Safety Expert, shares advice for parents on the importance of teaching your children personal safety in a way that kids can understand so to not scare them

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Pattie Fitzgerald

Child Safety Expert

Pattie Fitzgerald is the founder of Safely Ever After, Inc., and is recognized as a leading expert in the field of childhood sexual abuse prevention education, child abduction prevention, and Internet Safety education.  She is certified as a Child Safety Educator and Child Visitation Monitor, and has worked tirelessly as children’s advocate for over ten years.  As a former preschool teacher, Pattie blends her expertise as an educator and, more importantly as a mom, to teach parents and kids everywhere the most effective, up-to-date safety strategies without using fear tactics.   

Admired for her positive approach and warm, compassionate style, Pattie is also the author of the newly released children’s book, No Trespassing – This Is MY Body which parents and children are embracing across the country.  Pattie’s programs and curriculum have been implemented in public and private schools throughout the United States and have been also been utilized by The Santa Monica Police School Resource Department as well as the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department through their MERIT Program.   

Prior to the inception of Safely Ever After, Inc., Pattie worked as the Community Outreach Educator for the national child advocacy agency, Parents For Megan’s Law.  Her published work has appeared in national newspapers, parenting magazines, and trade journals throughout the country, and she has been featured on Good Morning America, CNN Headline News, MSNBC, KCBS, KABC and KNBC news as well as countless national radio programs.

More Parenting Videos from Pattie Fitzgerald >
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