Keeping Kids Safe in Public Amenities

This week's report of three young girls being filmed by a man in the showers of their Adelaide caravan park serves as a reminder about keeping our kids informed and safe.
Caravan parks are generally safe places for children to play and roam about, however as with any place there can be a pedophile or pervert lurking about waiting for an opportunity to target a vulnerable child. While we cannot wrap them up in cotton wool and monitor their every move we can inform ourselves and our children how best to avoid stranger danger.
In caravan parks children are in some ways safer as there are so many people about that the chance to get a child alone and not be seen are few. Kids also tend to roam around in groups providing safety in numbers.
On the other hand sharing public ammenities, meeting lots of new people (strangers), and possibly sleeping in tents or unlocked campers can pose a risk.
Talk to your kids about stranger danger and set some rules:

• Teach them to be aware of the people they meet and see around. Ask them to let you know if any adult makes them uncomfortable or is being strange or overly friendly.
• Make a rule that they are not allowed to enter anyone elses caravan, chalet, tent or camper etc (we made this rule for Brayden but did say that he could go in only with the kids who lived there and only after we had met the parents).
• Tell kids they must only go to the public ammenities with a parent, sibling or young friend.
• Allow boys under 10 (everyone probably has an opinion about what is too old) to use the female toilets and showers if they don't have dad to take them to the mens.
• Make a rule for kids to be back at their campsite before dark.
• In large parks and camp grounds set a boundary for kids to stay within.

For a great article about keeping kids safe while travelling around Australia, click on the following link

http://www.travel-australia-online.com/travel-safety.html