Keeping your children safe

In the wake of the murder of a Purcell girl last week and the murder of a 10 year old Tulsa girl last month, parenting experts say now is the time to make a safety plan with your kids. <br/><br/>News

Monday, April 17th 2006, 10:34 am

By: News On 6

In the wake of the murder of a Purcell girl last week and the murder of a 10 year old Tulsa girl last month, parenting experts say now is the time to make a safety plan with your kids.

News on 6 reporter Jennifer Loren says parents she talked to Monday say they no longer feel comfortable leaving their children alone in their own neighborhoods. They say, over-protective or not, their main focus is keeping them safe.

So when should you feel comfortable enough to let your child roam the neighborhood alone? Parenting experts say a good rule of thumb is, if they're responsible enough to baby-sit, they're probably mature enough to be alone.

And Tulsa Police who deal with crimes against children say it's very important to make safety plans with your kids. Tulsa Police Sgt. Whitney Allen: "In teaching children safety we really teach them different than we used to. Instead of just telling them stay away from strangers, because both of these girls may not have considered the suspects in these cases to be strangers because they lived so close. So they really recommend now that you teach children about situations."

Here are some things you can do. Have your child use the buddy system everywhere they go or have them check in with you by phone every 30 minutes or hour.

Simple plans like these could help keep them out of harms way.