How to Keep Your Teen Safe

When you became a parent for the first time, you were introduced to all sorts of safety devices: car seats, baby gates, safety latches. As your child becomes older, however, you should know that there are no tools specifically designed for teen safety (although you may wish there were!). Still, there are a number of common-sense things you can do—or encourage your teens to do—which can help ease their passage to adulthood.Safety on the Road Highway safety should be a major concern for any parent of a teenager. Statistics from the National Safety Council indicate that traffic crashes are to blame for as many as 44 percent of teen deaths. In fact, roadway accidents are the top cause of teen fatalities in the United States.Once your teen has a driver’s license, you may think you have little control over his or her safety on the road. But insurance experts say that you can exert a tremendous amount of influence. To begin with, you can show your teen a good example by refraining from speeding and by obeying all traffic laws. Your good driving habits can be infectious and can help keep your teen accident-free on the highway.Limiting the number of passengers your teen can have with them is a good way to cut down on distractions. It also reduces the temptation to "show off." Emphasize the rule that everyone that rides in the car with your teen must wear a seat belt. It’s also important that you work to ensure that your teen’s vehicle is safe. Insurers recommend that teens drive older, sturdy vehicles that include a number of safety features such as airbags, anti-lock brakes, and head restraints. Attempt to discourage aggressive driving by avoiding cars that have high-performance tires or turbo-charged engines. Also, make sure that your teen’s car is properly maintained through oil changes, brake tests, clean windshields, and functioning headlights and tail lights. Today it is getting easier to know where your teen is. Many teens have access to a cell phone, and some cars have GPS. You can even install a camera in your car that shows you how your child is driving, and reminds your teen that you can see what they are doing. I wouldn’t recommend this unless you have a relationship with your teen where she would feel that this would help her do better, and not one where your teen would feel that you don’t trust her. Your teenager needs to feel that you trust her, but it sure doesn’t hurt to check up on her. If she is really going to her friend’s house, then she is not going to throw a huge fit if you ask her to call you from their phone when she gets there. Safety OnlineIt’s also important that you attempt to safeguard your teen on the information superhighway. Cruising the Internet is one of those teen trends that is likely here to stay. While venturing onto the World Wide Web can be risky to a teen’s psychological health and safety, online adventures can be amazing learning experiences. To help ensure that your teen uses the Internet sensibly, make sure that he or she realizes that any information posted on the ‘Net should be considered part of the public domain. Therefore, if your teen ventures onto a forum, he or she should not give out personal information such as mailing address, phone number, or name of his or her school. Encourage your teen to exercise caution in all e-mail and instant messaging transmissions. You can also set an important ground rule, barring your teen from getting together with anyone that he or she knows only online.Help your teen understand that they really do not know the person that they are chatting to if it is not a friend. You can do this by asking them questions about whether they make up information about themselves when they are chatting. You can discuss how easy it is to lie when you are not looking at someone, and how people can use the internet to pretend to be somebody else.You can also use internet use monitoring tools such as PC Tattletale Parental Control and Monitoring Software that your children will not even be aware of. However, you do not want them to think you are spying on them. You will either have to approach the subject of violations carefully, or be upfront with them that you will monitor their activities.Safety in Teen DatingUnfortunately, teenage girls run the risk of being subjected to violence on dates in the form of rapes or physical assaults. Make sure that your teenager is aware of the warning signs of an abuser. The better educated she is, the less likely it is that she will become a victim. You may also encourage your teen to carry a cell phone with her on dates in case she encounters an emergency which requires police intervention. While you don’t want to overplay the threat of danger on dates, you also don’t want her to feel a false sense of security. Tell her to call you if she is ever uncomfortable with a situation and needs a way out of it. Have a key phrase that she can use that will alert you as to whether she wants you to say she has to come home immediately (a valid excuse to get out of a date), or if she needs for you to come pick her up.Final ThoughtsUnfortunately, there is no fool-proof method for keeping your teenager safe in the world at large. However, with a little parental coaching, your teen may be much safer than he or she would be otherwise.