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Corded Communication
Teaching Preteens Telephone Tact
By Megan Kopp
Don't be afraid to give your children the exact words to use. Prompt your kids to ask if the call is for sales. If it is, have them respond with a standard phrase, like: "Please take our name off of your list. We don't take sales calls, thank you." And then hang up.
Surge-protect your phone for use in severe weather such as lightning storms. This is just an extra precaution. The telephone itself is a remarkably safe instrument. The downside comes in the way it can be used to intimidate or abuse.
That is why it is important to also teach the following safety rules:
Establish how to answer the phone when home alone. "Mom and Dad can't come to the phone right now. Can I take a message?" Petersen suggests you coach your children to take the initiative when talking to strangers on the telephone. Don't answer questions; ask them instead, she says.
"Phone conversations can be a way for a person with bad intent to assess a child's vulnerability," says Lauren Taylor, a child safety and adult self-defense instructor in Washington, D.C. "It's important for kids to learn that they don't always have to answer the questions of an adult."
Have your child practice responses, she says, such as:
Child: "My mom can't come to the phone right now. May I take a message?"
Keeping phone calls brief and not giving out any unnecessary information is a key element in phone safety. Teach your kids to hang up immediately if they hear strange sounds, cursing or any other obscene noises, and make sure they know to inform you of any such calls right away.
"Most phone books list tips for dealing with such calls," says Rob Morley, a corporate safety consultant with Telus Corporation in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. "It's important for parents to review these tips with their kids. As a parent, when I'm out working in the garage and my boys are at home, they know to look at the caller identification feature on the phone. If they don't recognize the number, they don't answer."