1. Teach your children the importance of safety.
2. Always know where your children are.
3. Children should be familiar with their play areas and knowledge of danger indicators such as water, electricity, heights, etc...
4. Teach your children to never touch a firearm and to tell an adult if one is found.
5. Teach children the Buddy System and the concept of safety in numbers.
6. Teach children at the earliest possible age their full name, address, telephone number, and when and how to dial 911.
7. Do not leave small children unattended, especially in a parked automobile.
8. Teach your children Stranger Danger and what to do if approached by a stranger.
9. Teach your children to never approach a strange car.
10. Remind your children to always let you know where they are.
11. When walking to school, know your child's route and use main roads and highly traveled routes rather than secluded shortcuts.
12. Maintain a fingerprint record of your child.

The above safety tips are some of the important general tips you can use to remind your children of how important it is to be safe. You can use these tips along with others to help reduce the risk of abduction and/or injury to one of your family members. The Collierville Police Department offers the above mentioned safety tips along with many other tips for both children as well as adults as part of its personal safety education courses taught by our Officers free to citizen groups in Collierville. If you would like more information on this course or others offered by the department, please contact Lt. Josh Wheeler for more information.

• www.missingkids.com
• www.netsmartz.org