Kid Prints

  KID ALERT

  Kids Line

If you are being abused, or know someone who is,
or have questions that you are afraid to ask someone you know, Kid Tips now has two ways you can reach us.

If it is a real emergency and you are afraid or in danger of being hurt, call the police in your town.
DIAL 911 right now.

Now, before you call us, please consider talking to your parents, a teacher, the principal at school or someone from your church. Maybe even your best friend's parents.

Its not that we don't want to talk to you. We will be more than glad to answer your questions or help you in any way we can. We just want you think who you can trust at home first.

If you still want to call us, here's how to reach us.

Our phone HOTLINE is
1-800-643-3310. This is
an 800 number which
means it doesn't cost you
anything. We usually can
answer it right away. But if we don't leave a message and tell us how we can call you back and we will call back just as soon as possible, usually within a few minutes.

If it is not an emergency, but you need a friend you can email us at
KIDSLINE@kidprints.org

Email Us with your
questions or comments!

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Teacher or Parent, this is a wonderful way to promote street safety with your child or student. Discuss and practice each tip with them, it will help reinforce what what they are learning here.

	When you're walking places, whether you're alone or with other people, walk like you know where you're going. Don't duck your head and shuffle your feet like you're sad, or lost. The bad guys see this as a signal that you might be easy to approach and convince to go with them.
	Be aware of your surroundings. By keeping your head up and your eyes looking about, you can know who is there. This doesn't mean you need to keep turning your head in all directions every second or two, or be afraid that some bad guy is going to jump out from every bush. It simply means be aware. Most of the time you will be perfectly safe. But by keeping alert, no one can take you by surprise, and you can always be prepared for anything that might happen.
	Be sure to walk on busy main streets whenever you can. Try to avoid side streets or alleys, or shortcuts through parks or between houses, and try to walk to and from your destination with other people whenever you can, also. Walking alone can be ok, but it's always safer when you're with others. When they say there is safety in numbers this is what they are talking about.
	Sometimes it's ok to talk to strangers, but if someone you don't know speaks to you first, it's ok to ignore them. Pretend you don't hear them and keep walking. Then go and tell someone you trust about what happened.
	If you're scared, or think someone is following you, you can go to any business and ask to use their phone. Be sure to tell them why, and then dial 911 or 0. 911 will give you the police right away. If you dial 0 and tell the operator it's an emergency she will put you through to the police immediately. If you're in a business and they don't want to let you use the phone, ask them to make the call and they will do it for you.
	Now this one may seem unfair at first, but its really important to always let your parents, or the babysitter, or whoever is caring for you, know where you're going, when you expect to be back, and who you're going with. It couldn't even hurt to let them know which way you will be walking or riding your bike. And if someone's parent is driving you, make sure they know that too. The problem with not telling someone where you're going, is that if something happened at home and they needed to find you, or if something happened to you, no one would know how to find you. That could cause those who love and care about you to be worried and sometimes even causes them to call the police to tell them you're missing.
	Sometimes we like to be alone and don't want anyone around. But if you're playing away from home its better to have at least one friend along for company. This way if you get hurt, or there is trouble one of you can go for help.
	Its great to know that you have a safe place to go if you get scared or worried. Ask your parents to show you where safe places around your neighborhood, school and the other places you play, like parks, movie theatres and video arcades are. Remember you can always go into any store or business and ask for help. But if you are not near a shopping area, you need to know which houses, or other kinds of places are safe for you to go for help.
	This is a neat trick if you think someone is following you in a car. Just turn around quickly and run the other direction. Find someone you can trust as quickly as you can and tell them what happened. Then call your parents or someone else you trust to come and get you.
	Our last STREET SMART STREET SAFE TIP is that even though you see it in the movies or cartoons, it is never ever a good idea to hitch hike. There are a lot of good people out there, but the problem is you don't know if that person pulling down to pick you up is a good guy or a bad guy. Don't take the chance. If you feel you need a ride call someone you know and trust to pick you up. Never get in the car with a stranger.
	Now go practice these tricks and see how much more fun you'll have when YOU are the one in control and not the bad guys. If there are any of these 10 street safe tricks that you don't understand, just ask your parents, or email us and ask us your questions. You'll find our email on the same page with this recording. Regardless though, you should go over these tips with your parents and ask them to practice them with you. Be sure to check out the rest of Kid Tips 101 for even more great tips on keeping safe from the bad guys.