PERSONAL INFORMATION: 8 OLD SCHOOL FACTS PARENTS MUST TEACH CHILDREN
Keeping kids’ personal information protected remains an important task for parents. This task has become harder over the years due to younger kids gaining access to the internet and perhaps sharing information inappropriately. Sadly, much of the information children share online is already stored on their devices, and they do not actually have the data memorised.
In this digital age, we find many old school safety facts are no longer drilled into our children’s memory banks. Young kids tend to rely more heavily on data that is stored on devices rather than in their brains! In the good old days, when smartphones, tablets and Google search engines were not the norms, kids had to actually memorise facts that could potentially save their lives. When asked for these facts, we find that many kids will either ask parents to respond for them or, if the child is older, quickly refer to their phone.
WiFi seems to be everywhere; consequently, there is a high probability that your child will be able to access their stored data. However, what if they cannot because of a lost or uncharged phone? What if they are in a situation where they need to call for help or direct someone to contact family members on their behalf, but stored data is not accessible?
For those of you who have continued to require your children to recite safety information, kudos to you! For everyone else, please begin teaching your kids basic important safety facts. And then periodically ask them to recite these facts to you. This process ensures your kids’ personal information will be able to be given to other adults in case of an emergency. Just like back in the good old days!
Here are 8 personal information facts we believe all children should continue to memorise:
1. Mum and Dad’s full names
Many parents do not share the same last name or use a nickname for their first name. Children should know their parents’ legal names.
2. Home address
Our society is very mobile and changing addresses occurs frequently. Each move should be accompanied by learning, memorising and reciting the new home address.
3. Home phone number
The trend to ditch home phones has continued to grow; however, if a home phone exists, that number should be memorised. This line remains a constant dependable number that does not rely upon remembering to charge it.
4. Mum’s phone number
This number is typically remembered the best as it is shared during play dates and used for coordination of activities. We also notice kids tend to play on mum’s mobile phone much more frequently than dad’s.
While playing on the phone, kids sometimes get a sudden urge to call grandma and push the speed dial. BAM! Hello, grandma. No idea what her number is. Just saying.
5. Dad’s phone number
Every phone number a child memories increases the speed of being able to reach a family member in an emergency.
6. Mum and/or Dad’s work number
Many parents who work outside of the home may need to store their phones away during work hours. A business phone may be the best way to reach them if parents are in a meeting or unable to reach their mobile phones.
We recommend your child learns to call your office if they need to reach you more urgently. Many times the need will not actually be urgent, but that’s another story! I child should know where their caregiver is and how to reach them. Do your kids?
7. Place Mum and /or Dad works
Hopefully, no one would ever need to physically get to you, but have you ever heard of Murphy’s Law? Well, it’s real. At our office, there have been power outages due to nearby construction. What if there was an emergency with our kids? Knowing where our workplace is could be an additional means of communication.
8. BONUS POINTS: Work address for Mum and/or Dad
Usually simply stating the name of the workplace in a specific city is more than enough to find your office, but an address? That’s gold.
We realise this list seems extremely simple; however, many children know which phone key has saved phone numbers for family members. They rarely type out the numbers and struggle to recite these vital facts.
In our experience, when kids get the facts wrong, they often shrug and say they were close. Close will not allow anyone to emergently contact your family. Kids’ personal information should be learned by all children. Technology is a beautiful thing, but it must not replace our brains.
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