The time has finally come. Your child has asked you if they can home after school instead of going to daycare. Only you can determine if your child is mature enough to handle this responsibility. However, if you do feel the time has come, there are a few things you can do to your San Francisco home to help keep them safe.

Teach Your Child About Home Security

Before letting your child stay at home by themselves, you should teach them how to handle any security or safety issues. Here are some things to go over:

• Code Word: Set a code word for family and trusted friends that is required

• Neighbor Support: Ask a trusted neighbor to be the child’s safe place

• Stranger Danger: Emphasize to your children not to trust strangers, even friendly ones

• Locked Doors: You never open the door to a stranger

• Emergency Management: Teach your child how to call 911 and set up scenarios to train them

• Responsible Sharing: Make sure they understand that when they post on social media, it is not just their friends who see what they write.

• Emergency Preparedness: Practice emergency situations with your children

• Security Management: Show them how to arm your monitored alarm system so they can set it the moment they arrive home. Most importantly, show them how to use the panic button.

Smart Homes For Smart Kids

One of the best ways that you can not only ensure that your children are safe when home alone, but keeping your entire family safe and secure is to install a smart home system. While there are many reasons that a smart home is a valuable homeowner tool, but these five reasons that help your children more than they help you.

1. No Keys: 

With a smart home you never have to worry about your children losing their keys, locking themselves out or leaving your home vulnerable. With a smart lock you can access and open the front door for your children or they can access the door with a code you have set up. It also lets you know they aren’t fooling around on the way home.

2. Check Homework:

With the app on your phone, you can connect to your home security cameras. The camera allows you to see if they are home on time and have completed their homework. With older kids you can see if they are having friends over without permission and what those friends are doing.

3. Keeping Energy Costs Down: 

This may not seem like a child issue unless you have kids who never remember to turn off the lights. You can set up a schedule with your smartphone and timers for when the lights turn on or off. Some can even be programmed to turn off if your child leaves the room for a certain period of time.

4. Hook Up Smart Speakers:

Hooking up smart speakers such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Hub can help your children with their homework and research. It will keep them entertained with games or funny jokes and even allows them to play their favorite radio station by just speaking into the speaker. Smart speakers can also turn the TV on or off, just in case your child is grounded from television.

5. Check The Video Doorbell:

Not only can your child see who is at the door with a video doorbell, you can monitor as well. Daughter have a group project and meeting at your house. Note when the classmates arrive and that they leave on time.

When it comes to keeping your San Francisco children safe, you should consider working with a professional security company. Security experts can help ensure that your home is fully secured and that your children know how to operate the system. With the help of a professional, you can rest easy that your children are safe on their own at home.