Teenagers have a lot to deal with between their new responsibilities, peer pressure, and parents’ expectations — making it easy to overlook the different problems that come along with being a teenager. Nevertheless, teenagers face dangers every day, whether walking the streets or chatting with someone online.
In order to keep teenagers safe from these dangers, parents, guardians, and teachers must keep a close eye on them. In that regard, here are some safety issues your teen may face in his lifetime along with ten general safety rules that must be taught.
Safety Issues Faced By Teenagers on Daily Basis
There are plenty of safety issues revolving around your teenagers’ life. Here are some of them.
1. Internet Safety Issues: Teenagers are at risk for cyberbullying, online financial scams, identity theft, cyberattacks, and other network security threats.
2. Fire, Gun, and Disaster Safety Issues: Teenagers include themselves in fire and disaster hazards, gun violence, shootings, especially with the Black and Hispanic community in the United States.
3. Sports Safety Issues: Teenagers may suffer cuts, bruises, and injuries during sports games; they may drown during swimming.
4. Health Safety Issues: Teenagers face a variety of physical and mental health problems, including unhealthy diets, obesity, and lack of exercise.
5. Relationship/Dating Safety Issues: Teenagers have to deal with emotional and mental health issues caused by dating, breakups, peer pressure, and more.
6. Traffic Safety Issues: Teenagers need to be attentive to traffic safety issues while they drive, such as drunk driving, distracted driving, and violating traffic rules.
7. Physical Safety Issues: Teenagers can be the victims of physical fights, muggings, robberies, threats, or even rapes.
8. Financial Safety Issues: Teenagers are at risk of financial frauds, scams, overspending, tax evasion, loan problems, and other financial matters that they may not be able to handle on their own.
Ten General Safety Rules To Teach Your Teens
1. Teach your teens about first aid and CPR
Engaging in physical activities and sports like cycling, swimming, playing different games like baseball, football, etc. helps your teens to be physically fit. But we all know, injuries are common in sports. Sometimes there can be injuries such that they do not require one to go to the hospital but do need some first aid treatment.
Some of these injuries are bruises and cuts during play or drowning during swimming, etc. Teens must learn how to deal with these injuries as early as possible. So, you need to teach them first aid and CPR skills in case of a medical emergency.
2. Teach your teens simple banking and finance.
Teens are at the age where they are just starting to learn about financial matters. They are not mature enough to handle large sums of money, nor are they smart enough to avoid falling into financial pitfalls and scams. So, they need to learn much about banking and finance to avoid falling into a sticky financial situation in the future.
Not even having concepts about the taxes, insurances, mortgage, loans, and other financial issues that teens will face as they grow older, may create problems for them in future.
Hence, your job as a parent or guardian will be to
- teach about the financial and banking matters to your teens as much as you can to make them avoid any traps and financial losses and ensure their financial safety for the future.
- make sure that teens do not spend the hard-earned money recklessly.
3. Teach your teens about technology, its addiction, and consequences
Currently, technology is one of the important aspects in a teenager’s life. From PCs, Smartphones to the internet and social media, teenagers are becoming more and more engaged in technology. However, the overuse of technology has its risks.
As parents, it falls under your responsibility to make them understand that from smartphone addiction to online bullying and lack of social life, getting addicted to technology has far-reaching consequences and teach them how to handle technology more maturely and not get addicted to using them.
4. Make your teens be wary of online dating, unprotected sex, puberty concerns, and dangerous teenage trends.
Online dating, unprotected sex, puberty, and popular teenage trends constitute a large portion of safety concerns in today’s society for teenagers. As teenagers start in their adolescent life, they go through many physical and emotional changes in their bodies and mind.
To make sure that these changes do not become significant risk factors negatively affecting your teenage kid’s lifestyle, you should teach some rules regarding online dating, heartbreak, puberty concerns, etc.
Another dangerous concern most adults face is the dangerous trends on the internet teenagers seem getting addicted to. Trends such as taking selfies near a cliff, wild animals, etc., are some of them. Teach your teenagers not to engage in such dangerous activities, and make sure they understand the consequences of these activities.
5. Make sure that teens remain vigilant about online privacy and security, and safe browsing
Online privacy and security come under internet safety. It is a little different from the overuse of technology as it only concerns the internet. Teens should be taught online privacy and security rules such as
- authentication,
- access control,
- antivirus protection,
- firewall, etc., to protect their devices safe from any kind of potential cyberattack that will compromise their privacy and safety.
As cyberattacks, identity theft, and online financial fraud are getting more rampant, teenagers must be taught internet safety rules like not sharing private information online, keeping strong passwords, and securing their devices with firewalls and antiviruses.
6. Teach your teens traffic safety rules while driving or as a pedestrian.
Many teenagers are new to driving. Many of them learn driving from their family members. So, you must teach your teenager the traffic safety rules for driving. As teenagers are new to driving, not teaching them traffic rules might pose a danger to their safety. Moreover, they should also be taught pedestrian safety rules while walking on the road.
As per this report by Edger Snyder law firm, 12% of drivers involved in fatal car accidents in the U.S were teens of ages 15 to 19.
Moreover, the report also suggests that underage driving and texting while driving are among the major causes of car crashes. So, make sure you teach to drive safely and walk safely as a driver or a pedestrian.
7. Teach your teens to try not to walk by themselves at night and remain communicable at all times when going out.
An important safety rule that you should teach your teenager is not to try to walk alone at night. They should always keep their phones with them and be communicable at all times. Most cases of mugging, robbing and even rape happen to those who walk alone at night.
- Make sure that your teen knows how dangerous it is to walk alone at night and
- Tell him to contact you if he is returning home during night hours.
As this rule directly affects the physical safety of your teenagers, you must teach them these rules with utmost seriousness so that they can comprehend the gravity of the situation.
8. Make your teen learn about fitness, diet, and exercise to improve physical health.
Health is the most important aspect in everyone’s life. As teens are at their most active age, they need to be taught the rules of physical fitness, diet, and exercise.
- You can take your teen to a gym and make him do some simple exercise.
- You can talk to him about the benefits of a healthy diet.
- Make sure that your teen understands the severe negative effects of an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise.
The earlier your teens learn of these fitness rules, the better for their future.
9. Make sure that teens do not engage in alcohol, gambling, and drug use.
Teenage is the most sensitive age where your teens are just about to enter into adulthood. They try to be mature, starting by copying their seniors and elders. So it is very easy for a teenager to get involved with alcohol, drugs, and gambling.
- For your teens’ good future, make sure you set up strict rules on drug or alcohol use.
- Keep in mind that teens may easily get addicted to alcohol, drugs, or gambling, so make sure that your teens know the dangerous implications of drug abuse or gambling.
- Set up strict rules in your house regarding alcohol consumption and smoking.
- Make sure that you enforce them rigorously to ensure that your teen maintains a distance from these bad habits.
10. Teach your teens about fire and gun hazards and make some emergency response plans ready.
Gun violence and fire can be life threatening and your teenagers should know about it. Beside it, natural disasters are unpredictable and you need to teach them at least some basic safety rules to protect themselves from any kind of gunfight, fire, or other natural disasters.This is very crucial for their safety.
Tell them to keep/save some emergency number, and contact them whenever they face any of the above mentioned situations.
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