Teach your kids that community helpers are friends.

[TessaBianca]

Everyone, please teach your children that cops, paramedics, military and firemen are friends. If you see one in uniform out in public and they are not busy, walk up with your kids and say hi! Make it brief. They won't mind, I promise. This is a great way to show kids that these are friendly community helpers.

If your children have not gone with their school, please call and arrange a tour of the firehouse and ask to see a firemen in his gear. In a housefire, often children will run from firemen because they look scary with the mask and gear. This is dangerous beyond words for obvious reasons both for the child and the firefighter. My father would do anything to save a child including searching until the house fell in on him.

Please do not threaten your children with police. Children will run from policemen if you have told them that if they are bad, the police will take them away. When you say that, you have taken away your childs safety in an emergency. If your child is lost or abducted, the last person they will trust are the police.

Please let kids know that EMTs are friends who can help if they are hurt. Ambulances make a loud sound so that they can warn others that they need room to drive safely and quickly to the hospital or to an emergency. Please do not threaten kids with going to the emergency room or calling an ambulance if they are doing something dangerous. Although those are possible outcomes, we don't want kids to think that an Ambulance came because they were "bad and got hurt".

Get some books about community helpers, make up some good stories about them or go meet some real heroes! Tour a firehouse, talk to an EMT, meet a soldier, make a poster, write a thank-you letter, take some cookies to the fire hall, check out these websites:

http://www.mcgruff.org/

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/firetruck.shtml

 http://www.kidsnewsroom.org/careers/careers.asp?career=paramedic

 

 

[jennagale76]

Mar. 8, 2009 at 10:43 AM

Great post! thanks!

[Tawanda74]

Mar. 8, 2009 at 1:26 PM

That is sooo true.  I have relatives who are police officers and totally agree. 

[TessaBianca]

Mar. 14, 2009 at 8:41 PM

I heard a lady just today say to her kids "There's a policeman, he's going to take you away for being bad!" I just said kinda loud to MY kids "This is officer ******, he's our friend!" The officer kinda looked at that lady like she was a lunatic and thanked me then proceeded to chat with my boys.

(Original Poster)