The Parenting IDEA
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The Parenting IDEA
What Parents Need to Know - from Conception to College and Beyond!
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 To make sure your child’s valuable electronics, books and other essentials are safely stored away this school year, the security solutions experts at Master Lock have collected a handful of easy-to-follow safety measures to protect the belongings students — and their parents — value most. (BPT) - From phones and tablets, to computers and headphones, technology has quickly become an integral component within the daily lives of students of all ages. A departure from the contents of students’ backpacks as little as 10 years ago, these pieces of technology have, on the one hand, made students’ lives easier — including communication and access to necessary information — but also have made the cargo in their bags much more valuable and, consequently, attractive to potential thieves. Low-level theft is an unfortunate reality for schools across the nation. In fact, a recent study from the National Center for Education Statistics found that more students experience incidents of theft and violence at school than away from school. The crime rate works out to roughly 33 victimizations per 1,000 students at school per year. And with backpacks carrying more expensive tech, these thefts at school have left more at stake for students. To make sure your child’s valuable electronics, books and other essentials are safely stored away this school year, the security solutions experts at Master Lock have collected a handful of easy-to-follow safety measures to protect the belongings students — and their parents — value most. * Is it necessary: A natural first step in helping to protect your child’s valuable belongings is to establish if the item is a must-have in school. While they might love their new tablet, so might potential thieves. Having an open discussion about responsibility and what’s necessary will go a long way in keeping their belongings safe. * Quick change: By the time they hit middle school, many students are required to navigate the halls between classes with speed. To make sure they are not late to class while still securing their belongings, try the Master Lock Speed Dial Padlock. With up/down/left/right directional movements, the Master Lock Speed Dial Padlock provides students unparalleled quickness and convenience when opening their lockers in-between periods. * Security on-the-move: Depending on the age, juggling a phone, keys, debit cards and other small valuables is a reality for many students walking the halls at school or paths on campus. The Master Lock Portable Personal Safe is an ideal solution for students looking to securely lock up their belongings between classes or in their dorms at college. * Hide in plain sight: Larger electronics such as laptops, tablets and cameras can often come with their own carrying cases, and when thieves are looking for an item to steal, they look for the cases themselves, trusting the contents will be inside. To help protect your student’s possessions, mix it up and find some other bag or transportation method to house their tech. If thieves don’t see your student walking around with the case in their hands, they’ll be less likely to realize there is something for them to steal. * No key, no problem: While protecting from unwanted intruders, securely locking up a locker at school or in gym class can also accidentally keep out the owners themselves due to a forgotten combination or lost key. Master Lock’s award-winning Indoor Bluetooth Padlock offers students a new way to keep their items safe via a Bluetooth-enabled padlock which turns their phones into the key. This eliminates the hassle of a forgotten combination and gives students a lock only they or authorized users can open. As your child heads back to school this fall, following these simple safety tips can help ensure their valuables don’t fall into the wrong hands. To learn more about protecting your child’s belongings at school with the innovative security solutions from Master Lock, visit Masterlock.com/personal-use/school-gym-health-club. KEYWORDS
Between screen time and the busy schedules of both parents and kids, today’s children are spending less time outside and missing out on this fun and beneficial part of childhood. Use these five fun ideas to get you and your kids outside and exploring nature.
Tips to Get Kids Outside and Away From Screens(Family Features) Remember taking off for a day of adventure on your bike, returning home only for dinner? Kids these days don't have the same incredible experience of exploratory, unstructured play. According to a new survey commissioned by Nature's Path, 54 percent of moms say their kids spend more time playing in front of a screen than playing outside. "Playing outside in nature is critically important for kids' development. Research shows it improves everything from problem-solving to cognitive ability to social relations," said parenting expert Amy McCready, founder of Positive Parenting Solutions. "Between screen time and the busy schedules of both parents and kids, today's children are spending less time outside and missing out on this fun and beneficial part of childhood." According to the survey, the majority of moms try to regularly get their kids outside to enjoy the lifelong learning and health benefits of playing in nature. The biggest barriers that prevent this are: fear of letting kids play outside alone, being too busy juggling other priorities and not having the time to supervise outdoor play. Here are five fun ideas to get you and your kids outside and exploring nature: 1. Get crafty. Let your kids collect leaves, flowers, stones, pinecones or anything that strikes their fancy - and then craft together. Make leaf prints, press flowers between plastic sheets to create placemats, paint stones or sticks to look like animals or make a terrarium in a bottle. The possibilities are as endless as their imaginations. 2. Schedule it. Kids are used to planned sports and activities, so schedule an hour of outdoor play that they will come to expect. That's where the planning ends - give them some ideas, but let them use their imaginations and engage in unstructured free play.  3. Explore at night. Turn a simple walk around the neighborhood into an adventure by going outside in the evening. Let kids take flashlights and glow sticks to help explore nature in a whole new way. Talk about the sights and smells at night and look at the stars together. 4. Share your favorite activities and make new memories. When you were young, did you love to skip stones on a pond? Build a fort? Jump in to piles of leaves? Tell your kids about your favorite pastimes and experience them together. 5. Get schools involved. According to the survey, the vast majority of moms (94 percent) agree it's important that schools also help kids discover nature. Moms can help schools by bringing them a program that's easy to implement. Nature's Path EnviroKidz Ecokeepers is a hands-on, exploration-based program that blends a traditional activity passport for kids to fill-in with a modern-day treasure hunt that uses GPS on smartphones to find hidden caches. It's free for schools and camps, and complements science and physical education curriculum. Parents can also download the Ecokeepers explorer guide and resources featuring activities to do with the family. The geocache app can be downloaded free from geocaching.com or your smartphone's app store. While busy schedules don't always make it easy for moms to do everything they'd like to do with their kids, a little planning can help to get kids outside to experience all the benefits of outdoor play. SOURCE:
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