Children & Home Security

If you have kids, then you probably spend a good deal of time worrying about their safety in and out of the house.  You make sure the younger ones are properly secured in the car seat and the older ones are buckled; you hold their hands on the sidewalk; you know all of their friends and their friends’ parents -- in other words, you do everything in your power to keep them safe.  The same goes with home security.  There’s a good chance you’ve already done a lot to keep your home and family safe.  However, kids can be unpredictable.  Even with the best plans in place, sometimes it can be your kids themselves who actually end up causing problems with your home security.  If you’re worried about your children accidentally putting themselves or your family in a situation like that, read on for some tips to help ensure your family’s safety at all times.

1) Don’t give your kids more responsibility than they can handle.

It may not always seem obvious, but that doesn’t make it any less true: the biggest threat to a child’s safety at home is, often, the child.  Children can be too trusting and too willing to share sensitive information with their friends (or even strangers, at times!), and--let’s face it--prone to misplacing things as well, which means that as parents it’s important to make sure that your kids don’t have access to more than they can handle.  So, what does this mean?  It basically means don’t give your child an object or information that could compromise your home security until you’re sure they can handle it, and understand the consequences if they can’t.  Don’t give your child a key, the numbers for an entry code, or any other sensitive material until they need to know. And as your child grows, his responsibility can grow as well.

2) Have a conversation with your child sooner, rather than later.

It’s never too early to teach your child some basic safety precautions, and while you don’t want to scare them into thinking the world is a Big, Bad Place, a healthy respect for the dangers of the outside is never a bad thing.  So, as soon as you are comfortable, have a conversation with your child about staying safe.  And I’m not just talking about “Stranger Danger” (although that’s an important conversation, too)!  Does your child know what information is and isn’t acceptable to share with others?  Does your child know where emergency numbers and contact info is stored?  Does she know what to do if someone knocks on the door?  For those children who are older and can be left alone for a time, do they know what to do and how to reach you if there is a problem?  Do they know what stuff NOT to put on social media (status updates announcing vacations, for example, are NEVER a good thing)?

3) Upgrade your security equipment, if necessary.

Check out your house’s existing security features.  Are they able to keep your family safe, even if your child makes a mistake or misplaces something?  Consider the following suggestions:

• A keypad deadbolt lock.  Worried about your child losing a house key?  Take the key out of the equation altogether and install a keypad lock instead. Since even older children (and adults) can misplace a house key, this added feature can really help to bring you peace of mind.  What’s more, by changing the entry code regularly, you can protect about your child “accidentally” sharing the code with his friends.
• Install a video doorbell.  With today’s technology, there are more ways than ever to check up on your family, pets, and home.  One of the most exciting innovations in recent year is the video doorbell.  These aren’t just your typical doorbells.  They come equipped with wi-fi enabled cameras that you can monitor from anywhere on your smartphone.  For most, you can even have a conversation with the person at your door, from anywhere in the world!  In addition, many of these feature motion-sensor alerts, which immediately let you know when someone is approaching or hanging around your door, and image capture, so you can take a picture and save it for later identification.  What’s more, if your child is home alone you want to make sure they aren’t talking to strangers at the door, or letting their friends in without permission.  The video doorbell lets you monitor for all of those possibilities.  If your child is old enough to be left on his/her own for a short time, then this product might just be a no-brainer.

If you live in the Seattle/Tacoma area, we would love to talk to you about your existing security features and how to make your home safe for your family.  We offer a wide range of residential locksmithing services, and would like to help you transform your home into a citadel of safety.  Don’t hesitate to contact us today so we can get started helping you!