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Expert Q&A
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| By Diana Jones Safety Expert | ||
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What is the best way to ensure children's safety in the backyard? A fence is not possible at this point. We live in a small suburb in a safe neighborhood, but I want to ensure my children's safety while playing.
The best way to "ensure" a child's safety when outside of the home, is to make sure that they are always being supervised by a trusted adult. Even while being supervised things can happen, but this is the best way to "ensure" safety as you put it. As soon as children are left -- unsupervised -- even as they grow older, there is room for mistakes and mishaps. Children playing alone in a backyard with or without a fence are definitely easier prey to a person who may mean to abduct or lure them somewhere for some reason than a child or children that are playing with an adult present. Remember these people are looking for easy prey. A child being overseen by an adult or much older child is the hardest prey. A fence might be a slight deterrent, but it all depends on how persistent this harmful person is. What these people look for more than anything, in addition to an easy child to abduct, are patterns. In other words, children that are consistently left unsupervised -- fence or no fence -- could become more appealing. As mentioned, you said you live in a small suburb, if you are not isolated then activity on the street and people coming and going may not appear unusual to you. This could lead to complacency about people being around, and this could result in you lowering your guard. Keep this in mind. Depending on the age of your children, how much they know about stranger danger and how seriously they take it, and lastly, how well they listen to you, are things you need to think about. Based on what you decide once you address these questions, I might reconsider leaving them outside by themselves.
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