Written by Editorial Team
While you never would want your child to be in an emergency situation alone and be expected to do something about it, teaching a child how to tackle crisis is perhaps the best learning you can give to him. Of course, alphabets, numbers, rhymes are all good. But if faced with an emergency, would your child know what to do? Or would he buckle under pressure? As a parent, you are responsible for ensuring that the latter does not happen.
Children who are as young as 3 years old can be taught to call 911 during an emergency. Most children recognize numbers by then and can make (broken) sentences to convey a message. So if you have a child over 3, read on about how to teach him to call 911.
There are four things a child needs to know when he is in an emergency situation and needs to call 911
Here are tips to teach your child the above three aspects of reporting an emergency:
Perhaps this is the most important aspect. If the child is not able to explain clearly what the emergency situation is and where the help is required, it will not be possible for the 911 operator to help. So here are some ways to prepare your child on the same:
One of the best ways to prepare your child is to do mock calls. Let him be the caller and you pose as the 911 operator. Play out different scenarios (when someone is hurt, when there is a fire, when a stranger (like thief) is entering the house etc).
That said, here is hoping your child would never be in a situation where they feel endangered enough to use 911! 🙂
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