November 2006 Newsletter

HOLIDAY TRAVEL THOUGHTS

November begins the holiday season and it also means Daylight Savings time for 48 states (the exceptions are Arizona and Indiana that do not set their clocks for Daylight Savings time). This means that for commuters leaving from work or for those doing late afternoon errands there is a dark ride home. During the holidays, retailers start offering sales and many of you will be out later at night or early in the morning before it gets light outside or running errands in preparation for company parties, social events, and family gatherings. Many of us will be traveling to spend time with family and friends. College Students will be heading home, or possibly, going to the mountains or the beach during school break. Families with children will be traveling as well, mostly on the highways.

The fact is, that as the end of the year rolls around, we become busier and busier with lots to do and more travel than usual. Many of us will leave our homes vacant for a few days during our travels and we need to make proper preparation to make sure our homes will be safe. Now more than ever, we need to crank up the volume on our own and our family’s personal safety.

I can never stress enough the fact that we need to be extra vigilant about our personal safety during the holidays. Remember, we are 100% responsible for our personal safety and also for those that are dependent on us, like our children and elders. To become better prepared we need to think in terms of "What If" scenarios and how we would react in an emergency. I frequently learn about tragic situations where if the individual(s) had been properly educated and properly prepared the situation might have been avoided or possibly never even happened.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN?

Our Trainer, Chris, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, shared a story about a recent incident where a 12-year-old school girl got on the wrong bus to go home and got off at an unfamiliar stop which was not hers. She must have felt confused, frightened and at a loss as to what to do since she apparently had never discussed this possibility with her parents. A grandfatherly-looking man, who appeared to offer no threat but in fact was a child predator, abducted her and unfortunately killed her. When questioned, the Bus Driver remarked that the girl looked confused, out of place, and unfamiliar, and he even had a funny feeling about her. Yet he never followed his gut feeling and asked the girl if she needed help. This is an example of a "What If" scenario that a parent should discuss with their child. If this girl had been told about "Don't No's" and to get to a place where there are people, such as a convenience store, seek out a Mom, or to be assertive and tell the Bus Driver she was on the wrong bus, she might be alive today.

If her parents had played the "What If" game with her, talking about a fictitious girl who got on the wrong school bus, they could have gotten her to think about what this little girl could do to be safe and get home safely, and this tragedy might have been avoided. By playing the game in the third person (a fictional child), your child does not have a personal and emotional connection to this proposed scenario, allowing him/her to feel something other than fearful. Your child is allowed to be creative in trying to help the fictional child in the story and learns strategic thinking. It gives them safety strategies and skill sets that can then be personally applied if necessary in similar situations. Without safety strategies, we find ourselves in uncharted waters in a boat without a rudder and this is not a good place to be.

What does this story have to do with holiday travel?

BEING PREPARED

Think about travels you may have this month with your family and the different scenarios that may occur. Have you prepared your children sufficiently for possible situations that may arise while you are traveling? For example, what if you are in an airport and your child needs to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water? What if you are traveling by car and stop at a rest area or a gas station and get separated from your child? Do you have action plans thought out and discussed with your child? If you do not, you are essentially no different than that rudderless boat in uncharted waters, purely at the mercy of the situation. This puts you and your family members in the category of potentially being a victim and also in a fear-based state of mind because you are totally unprepared for whatever might happen.

We need not live in a fear state of mind however. Are Boy Scouts living in a fear-based state of mind because their motto is "Be Prepared"? No, and I think we should all learn to live by the motto of "Always Be Prepared". Think about this for a moment: do you fear being in an accident every time you get in your vehicle because you put on your Seat Belt? After all, your seat belt is also referred to as a Safety Belt! For those of you who have been on a cruise, you experienced a safety drill, putting on a life preserver and listening to information about the life boats and what to do in an emergency. Having this information allowed you to enjoy yourself and have fun - it gave you peace of mind so you did not have to worry about what to do in case of an emergency. You already knew; you were prepared.

VIGILANCE AND PREVENTION

So, in your holiday travels, your holiday shopping, your holiday socializing, be more vigilant about your safety and your family's as crime rises during this time of year. Be more aware of your surroundings as you might very well be in unfamiliar places.

Think through various possible emergency situations that could happen; play out a few strategies of what you should do and how to react 'just in case.' Catalogue them away in your memory and know that if you had to respond that you can simply call them up like a reflex. I remember as a kid hearing the saying, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" and it is still great advice to follow every day.

TRAVEL TIPS AND HOLIDAY TRAVEL SPECIAL

Be sure to review the October 2005 Newsletter in our archives if you are traveling on the highways this year for important travel tips.

We are also offering a GREAT Holiday Travel Special for all of you. Check it out at http://www.wseg.org/holidaytravel.htm. Be sure to purchase one for yourself, your family members, friends and anyone you care about. They make wonderful gifts and let's those whom you care about know how much you care about their safety.

We are also extending our Campus Safety Kit Special (http://www.wseg.org/college.htm) for all of you who have a family member in college.

Have a safe and joyous Holiday Season from all of us at WSEG.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

Make it a point to visit my new weekly safety podcast program, the "MR. SAFETY SHOW", at www.SafetyMattersRadio.com, committed to bringing you the best and latest safety information available. Learn effective, common-sense safety tips, everyday safety strategies, important 'need to know' safety information, enjoy interviews with a variety of safety experts and much more.


For more information or to book a WSEG program, call 1-800-318-8037 or email us at seminars@wseg.org.

Mark Spencer, M.A., S.A.F.E. © Copyright 2006 S.A.F.E. All rights reserved.