Keeping Kids Safe
I just read a rather funny magazine article about all sorts of electronic gadgets meant to keep kids safe. I’ve often joked with my husband that I’d like to implant some kind of chip in our kids so we could track them down if they ever went missing… but some of these honest-to-goodness gadgets actually do something similar. I started thinking about the difference between real safety and the illusion of safety.
For example, I remember watching an Oprah episode years ago about a girl who experienced an attack and narrowly escaped sexual assault while walking alone across her university campus at night. She said she felt safe because she carried her cell phone and believed that would always protect her. But of course, the attacker’s first move was to knock the phone out of her hand and into the woods. As one safety expert put it, cell phones serve as communication tools, not protective devices. That left the girl in a very scary situation.
From home ID kits—including that critical piece of your child’s DNA—to personal safety alarms and GPS wristwatches, parents who care about safety have no shortage of options. But do these tools truly keep kids safe, or do they lull us into a false sense of security? When kids feel invincible, they’re more likely to take risks without fully understanding the potential consequences.
Gadgets don’t keep our kids safe. Education and vigilance do. A GPS watch is a nice extra, but once someone rips it off and tosses it in the bushes, I just hope our kids know what to do next.
If you’re looking for resources to streetproof your kids, start here: