In this glorious time of year I am saddened by the recent events broadcast on the news media. Shootings in movie theater, shootings at a mall, shooting in a school, and knife wielding culprit in a classroom brings sadness to our hearts. We are all striving to bring safety and knowledge to our children. We worry about what they are exposed to. Have you had discussions with your children about what to do in this type of emergency?
If you are homeschooling your children then they are protected from being assaulted in the classroom. However, we all go out in public occasionally. We attend church services. We go to the mall. Sometimes a special movie is a reward. All are places that a mentally disabled person may cause havoc in our lives and endanger our children. Train your children and yourself in what to do!
Be Alert! Pay attention to the people around you. Notice where exits are located. If someone makes you or them uncomfortable then move away immediately! Find a safe location where they can be observed. So, what is a safe location? It needs to have multiple exit options. The area should have large areas to hide in if necessary to do so. Call someone and tell them about your concern and tell them that if you do not call them back in 15 minutes to call the police. Then and this is very important, turn off your cell phone! Having a cell phone ring during a hostile event will make you a target. If your children are there on their own have them follow the same procedure and wait for them to call you back. Do not try to call them! If nothing happens but you or they are still uncomfortable then follow that gut instinct and exit the area. Nothing is more important than being safe.
Preparing ourselves and our children for scary events may save their lives. Unfortunately there are a lot of mentally challenged people in the world and our health care system is not handling them in a manner that keeps us safe. So it is up to us to do the job! Enjoy going out in public to events and shopping. If you are confident in their skills it will ease your mind.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all who were involved in the multiple tragedies. May they find comfort and love. This season should be a joyous time of the year.
You are right, we do have to go out in this big wide world and we are always going to be exposed to dangerous situations in which we are not aware. We can’t hide our children away, but we can teach them how to stay safer. You point out lots of great tips for preparing our children.
I know I’ve noticed tons of tweets on Twitter since last Friday from kids wanting to be homeschooled and parents wanting to homeschool their kids due to the recent violence. I can understand both groups and how they feel. I read an article this week at Let’s Homeschool High School about the recent shootings and folks wanting to homeschool their kids. It brings up a very relevant point–if you are only going to homeschool to protect your children, you might be in for a little disappointment or frustration. The article goes on to say how homeschooling is a commitment and should not be entered into lightly.
I agree with you that there are lots of mentally challenged people in the world, and I believe there is lots of evil in the world. We do have to force ourselves to realize it doesn’t happen to everyone else…we are everyone else these days.
Thanks for sharing such good tips.
Merry Christmas,
Jackie
Thank you for your comment! Yes, home school is a commitment to excellence and should not be gone into lightly. I think that when we home school it is also done to instill the values that we hold dear and to not expose our children to so much of the drug culture that is current in many of the schools. teaching our children to be aware and strong are core abilities that all parents should teach their children.
*Make sure you know where your children are going when they go out and encourage them to play with other kids. Show them safe places in the neighborhood where they can go if they ever feel scared.