We all love our children and would like to be there for them when they arrive home from school, but it’s not always possible. The good news is that advancements in security technology can give parents tremendous peace-of-mind about their latchkey kids.
Many of us have to work until four or five in the evening, or even later. Sometimes our afternoon schedules keep us away from home longer than we would like.
Enter Honeywell Total Connect 2.0.
Wondering if your child made it home from school safely?
With this state-of-the-art security system, you can gain remote access of your home security system from your mobile device. The Total Connect 2.0 app can send you a text-message alert informing you of your child’s safe arrival.
Worried they forgot to lock the door behind them?
No problem! Total Connect 2.0 lets you lock your door from wherever you are. The app also enables you to watch up to 6 live-stream cameras on your mobile device, so you will never question what your child is doing when you aren’t home again. You can learn more about Total Connect here.
Common Sense Always Trumps Technology
While the addition of the latest security technology to your existing security system is a great security solution to ensure the safety of your latchkey kid, one of the best ways to keep your child safe is by teaching them some good old-fashioned common sense. The good news is that there are several lessons we can teach our children to ensure their safety during those after school hours, with or without a home security system.
10 Things To Teach Your Latch Key Kid
- Keep a house key in their pocket or on their person somewhere, but never let them leave a spare under your doormat or hidden near your home, and do not attach a name or address to the key. If your home security system is equipped with a key fob, don’t give it to your kids. Let them keep the key. Giving a key fob to a kid is a bad choice because (let’s face it) kids lose things. You don’t want your home security (and other information) compromised because the key fob got lost.
- Never enter the home if it appears to have been broken into. Have them go to the nearest neighbor, dial 911 and report the break-in.
- Never to enter the home if someone they don’t know is near them or trying to get near them; instruct them to run to the nearest neighbor and, if need be, make a lot of noise to attract attention.
- Have their key ready when approaching the front door and to re-lock the door immediately after entering. Explain to them that, once inside, if they think someone has been in the home or may still be lurking in the home, they should leave immediately and run to a trusted neighbor.
- Don’t tell others (even friends) that they are or will be home alone.
- Never open the door to anyone they don’t know. Instead, have them look through the peephole or window and, if for some reason your children must talk to them, have them talk through the closed door. If the stranger won’t leave, instruct your children to dial 911 and ask for help.
- Make sure your children know their full name, your full name, address, phone number, how to use the phone, and where they can reach you.
- Don’t take any medicine or do anything that you would not normally let them do in your presence.
- When answering the phone, never give out any information that the other person does not already know. This means never giving the caller their name or phone number, or letting the caller know that they are alone. If the caller asks them for their parents, have them say: “They’re busy right now, but if you give me your number they will call you back.” If the caller won’t give them a number and tries to argue with them, have your children hang up.
- If there is a fire in the home, leave the home immediately and run to a neighbor to call the fire department. Tell them: “NEVER GO BACK INTO THE HOUSE FOR ANY REASON!”
About SHIELD: SHIELD Security Systems of Buffalo, a franchise of The SHIELD Security Systems Franchise Development Group based in Buffalo, NY provides electronic security systems, monitoring and video surveillance for residential and commercial applications. For nearly 40 years, SHIELD Security Systems has served the Buffalo market offering alarm monitoring services for homes and businesses without the FREE sales gimmicks offered by other alarm companies. We’ve earned a solid reputation as a dependable alarm provider delivering consistent, honest value to our clients.
