Getting unlost (2)

Getting (Un)lost (2) 

To lessen the anxiety that comes when parents and kids get separated during a trip, take some of the safety tactics you use at home with you on the road, says Glena Records, director of communications and education at the Polly Klaas® Foundation, a Petaluma, Calif.-based non-profit organization that works on missing children cases and child abduction prevention.

"The safety rules you develop at home are basically the same rules you take with you when you are out and about. The most important thing is to have a plan for what happens if you get separated," says Records. "Giving kids a plan for what to do when they get lost is not much different than teaching children how to cross the street. When you teach your kids to cross the street, you practice it over and over until they understand what to do. The same applies to personal safety. You want to practice safety at home, before you travel, and make sure they know what to do if they get lost."

With that golden rule in mind, here are 10 tips to keep you kids safe while wandering around big city sites in the U.S. and overseas.

1. Hone your kids' judgment. Developing a habit of discussing safety issues at home will make children more comfortable in the way they react if something happens while traveling, says Oona Gilles-Weil, a crime prevention specialist at San Francisco SAFE (Safety Awareness for Everyone) Inc., a community crime prevention and public safety program that works in cooperation with the San Francisco Police Department.  "Teach your children the basics about safety. Tell them to stay on well-lit paths and in highly traveled areas. Show them how to identify safe places such as hospitals, stores and police stations and who they should ask for help," she says.

To reinforce this strategy in a fun way, make a game out of it, suggests Records. For example, when you're picking up your bags at the airport, eating at a restaurant or sight-seeing, ask your kids who they would go to if they needed help right there, point out safe places and keep a light, conversational tone. "When you're traveling, the scene is changing constantly, so you have to maintain the initiative of identifying safe people and places," Records says. "You want to hone your children's judgment, and develop an understanding of what your kids may do and what you expect them to do if they get lost."

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