1. Listen to your parents or trusted guardian.
2. Follow directions.
3. Provide your child or children with your contact numbers and other emergency contact numbers before there's ever an emergency.
4. Never be afraid to tell a parent, trusted adult guardian, teacher principal or a police officer if there's a problem.
5. Call 911 in an emergency (it's FREE from a pay phone).
6. Keep a good, positive circle of friends.
7. Stay away from strangers.
8. Never give out personal information on-line, or to a stranger,and stay out of chat rooms.
9. Stay away from gangs, illegal drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
10. When in doubt, ask your parents or trusted adult guardian for advice.

• Don’t go anywhere, accept anything, or get into a car with anyone before first checking with your parent, guardian or trusted adult.
• Don’t go out alone. Take a friend with you, even when playing outside.
• Say NO if someone tries to touch you.
• Say NO if someone treats you in a way that makes you scared, uncomfortable, or confused. Run away from them, and call your parents as quickly as possible.
• Tell your parent, guardian, or a trusted adult if you feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused.

A personal safety message from Retro Bill;

• Don’t give out personal information about yourself, your family situation, your school, your telephone number or your address.
• Tell your parents right away if you come across something that makes you feel uncomfortable.
• Don’t ever agree to get together with someone you “meet” online without first checking with your parents. If they agree to the meeting, bring one of them along.
• Never send a person your picture or anything else without first checking with your parents.
• Don’t respond to messages that are mean or in any way make you feel uncomfortable. Tell your parents right away so they can contact the online service.

View an Internet Safety Video. [Opens in a new window]

More fun stuff on internet safety…

Games on Internet Safety

For more information visit I Keep Safe Coalition, a cable industry partner.

• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers, with 16 year-olds having higher crash rates than drivers of any other age. In fact, 16-year-olds are three times more likely to die in a motor vehicle crash than the average of all drivers.
• Don’t become a statistic. To learn about how to become a safe teen driver click on the link for your state.

• In Alabama
• In California
• In Florida 
• In Indiana
• In Michigan

• Anger is a normal feeling. How you handle your anger and how you deal with other people who are angry is what counts. An effective response can ensure confrontation doesn’t end in violence.
• Be aware of triggers. Triggers are any verbal or nonverbal behaviors that provoke anger or other negative emotional reactions. Pay close attention to your words and your body language. Avoid triggering a bad response.
• Walking away from a dangerous situation is a great example of a strategy people use to control their anger.
• To resolve conflict, you must stay calm to communicate.
• Even though your anger may be legitimate, it usually doesn’t help to show your anger to the other person. Sometimes the other person will take you more seriously if you remain calm and courteous.
• A good goal to have is to be able to get angry without becoming abusive or violent. If you can do this then you can communicate your wants and needs effectively without threatening others.

A special message from Retro Bill.

How can I avoid a fight?

1. Be a parent first. A friend second.
2. Listen to your child or children, and ask questions. Lots of them!
3. Provide your child or children with your contact numbers and other emergency contact numbers before there's ever an emergency.
4. Know your child or children's friends, AND their parents or guardians.
5. Know where your child or children are at all times, and who they are with. If plans change, ask that you be notified first.
6. Participate in your local neighborhoods watch program.
7. Participate in your child or children's school PTA or PTO's.
8. Stay informed as to what is going on in your community that could have a potential impact on the safety & well-being of you and your family.
9. Be a role-model. Set a good example for your child or children.
10. Discuss RETRO BILL's TOP 10 Safety Tips for Children with your family.

• Make sure to spend time with your kids each day. Experts tell us that 20 minutes of positive adult attention per day dramatically reduces a child’s tendency to exhibit aggressive behavior.
• Sometimes kids engage in conflict as a means of seeking attention from an adult. Always encourage your kids to talk to you if they need your attention.
• You should always make sure to recognize your kids for doing something good. (i.e. good grades, being on a sports team, doing their homework, completing house chores. Praise your child for doing things well.
• Teach your child to discern the feelings of others. By being able to point out when someone is happy, sad, scared, or worried they are better able to respond appropriately.
• When your child has a conflict you should acknowledge their feelings. Then, help them find a positive solution.
• When mistakes are made try not to reprimand them. In stead talk to them about how they could have done things differently. Avoid yelling at them or using physical punishment. Through your example, your child will see that force is not the best or only choice.

• Take complaints of bullying seriously. Do not dismiss your child or expect your child to work through the situation alone.
• Praise your child for reporting bullying situations to you and assure your child you will take action.
• Talk to your child’s teacher, counselor, or other caregiver about reports of bullying. Work together to address the bullying situation. Don’t confront the parents of the bully directly.
• Ask your child specific questions about how your child is treated by their peers, who they eat lunch with, and how other children are treated.
• Teach your child to express feelings and needs clearly, without shouting or other aggressive behavior.
• Provide opportunities for your child to make friends. Identify some of your child’s interests and encourage your child to pursue them through sports, clubs, or other group activities.
• Teach your child to identify bullying behaviors. These include hitting, damaging possessions, threatening, name calling, excluding someone from the group, spreading rumors, and embarrassing others.
• Teach your child strategies for managing bullying. If bullied, your child can walk away; tell the bully to stop, avoid the bully, or tell and adult. Never encourage confrontation.
• If your child sees someone else being bullied, he or she can help the victim walk away, or tell an adult.
• Tell your child that you do not tolerate bullying behavior. If you learn that your child has been bullying others, work with your child’s teacher, counselor, or other caregiver to end the bullying.

Here’s a great game to play you’re your kids to teach them about bullying.

Cyber bullying is a growing form of bullying. Here’s a fun game to teach your kids about cyber bullying.

• Educate yourself about alcohol, tobacco, and drug use before talking to your children. You will lose credibility if you don’t have your facts right.
• Be ready to talk to your children as early as the fourth grade, when they may first feel peer pressure to experiment with alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes.
• Listen to your child’s or teen’s concerns non-judgmentally. Repeat them to make clear that you understand. Don’t preach.
• Explain that it’s against the law for a child or teen to use alcohol or cigarettes and that using drugs is always illegal—for good reason.
• Explain how drug use can hurt people in several ways—for example, the transmission of AIDS through shared needles, slowed growth, impaired coordination, accidents.
• Discuss the legal issues. A conviction for a drug offense can lead to time in prison or cost someone a job, driver’s license, or college loan.
• Use “teachable moments” to convey your message—television news, TV dramas, books, newspaper stories.
• Establish an ongoing conversation rather than giving a one-time speech.
• Set some time aside for you and your child to act out scenarios in which one person tries to pressure another to drink alcohol, smoke, or use a drug. Figure out two or three ways to handle each situation and talk about which works best.
• Remember that you set the example. Avoid contradictions between your words and your actions. Use alcohol in moderation, don’t smoke cigarettes, and never use drugs.

Mothers against Drunk Driving

• Don’t walk or jog early in the morning or late at night when the streets are deserted.
• When out at night, try to have a friend walk with you.
• Carry only the money you’ll need on a particular day.
• Don’t display your cash or any other inviting targets such as pagers, cell phones, hand-held electronic games, or expensive jewelry and clothing.
• If you think someone is following you, switch directions or cross the street. If the person continues to follow you, move quickly toward an open store or restaurant or a lighted house. Don’t be afraid to yell for help.
• Try to park in well-lighted areas with good visibility and close to walkways, stores, and people.
• Make sure you have your key out as you approach your door.
• Always lock your car, even if it’s in your own driveway; never leave your motor running.
• Do everything you can to keep a stranger from getting into your car or to keep a stranger from forcing you into his or her car.
• If someone tries to rob you, give up your property—don’t give up your life.
• If you are robbed or assaulted, report the crime to the police. Try to describe the attacker accurately. Your actions can help prevent someone else from becoming a victim.
• Do not give out personal information over the phone, through the mail, or over the Internet unless you have initiated the contact or know with whom you are dealing.
• If you’re a senior, use direct deposit for your Social Security check and other regular payments.
• If you notice someone following you when you’re driving, head for the nearest busy, brightly lighted area. Write down the license number and make and model of the car. Call 911 or your local emergency number.
• Always lock car doors and take the keys when you leave your car, even if you’ll be gone “just for a minute.”
• Don’t leave valuables in view in the car. Leave them in the trunk or, better yet, take them home immediately.
• As you walk down the street or through the parking garage, walk alertly and assertively. Don’t weigh yourself down with too many parcels. Take several loads to the car if necessary.
• If you carry a purse, hold it close to your body; if a wallet, keep it in a front pocket.
• Don’t display your cash or any other inviting targets such as pagers, cell phones, hand-held electronic games, or expensive jewelry and clothing.
• When traveling, carry only the credit and ATM cards you absolutely need. Leave the others at home, safely stored.

• Ask law enforcement for a free home security survey.
• Make sure you have sturdy metal or solid wood doors at all entries into your home and that sliding glass and similar doors are properly secured.
• Trim the shrubbery around your doors and windows so crooks don’t have a place to hide.
• Make sure your home is secure when you are traveling—all deadbolts locked, lights left on timers, newspapers stopped, and mail held at the post office or collected by a trusted neighbor who has your travel schedule.
  

• Make sure you understand how an online auction works before you bid on merchandise.
• Investigate the seller as much as possible. Be wary if the seller has only a post office box address or an email address.
• Bid at auction houses only if there’s insurance to protect the buyer or an escrow account where your money will be held until you receive your merchandise.
• Always use a credit card for your auction purchase so that you can dispute the charge if necessary; never use a wire transfer, money order, or personal check.
• To protect yourself against exorbitant charges, make sure you know the shipping and handling charges up front.
• To foil identity thieves, never give out your Social Security number or other personal information.
• Shred all bills, bank statements, and “pre-approved” credit card offers before you put them in the trash.
• Don’t have new checks mailed to you at home; pick them up at the bank.
• When someone asks you for a contribution to a charity, call the charity and make sure it is soliciting in your neighborhood.
• Make your check out to the name of the charitable organization, never to the person who is doing the soliciting, and mail it directly to the charity.

• Remove toys from in and around the pool when it is not in use. Toys can attract young children to the pool.
• Do not allow a young child in the pool without an adult.
• Instruct your babysitters about the potential hazards to young children and about the use of protective devices, such as door alarms and latches. Emphasize the need for constant supervision.
• If a child is missing, check the pool first. Seconds count in preventing death or disability. Go to the edge of the pool and scan the entire pool, bottom and surface, as well as the surrounding pool area.
• Do not consider young children to be "drowning proof" because they have had swimming lessons. Children must be watched closely while swimming.
• Do not use floatation devices as a substitute for supervision.
• Be sure a telephone is within reach and post emergency numbers nearby.
• Always keep basic lifesaving equipment near the pool and know how to use it. A pole, rope and floating device are recommended.

• NEVER swim alone; ALWAYS swim with a buddy.
• Stay within the designated swimming area, ideally within the visibility of a lifeguard.
• Stay away from piers, pilings, and diving platforms when in the water.
• Check surf conditions BEFORE you enter the water. Check to see if a warning flag is up or check with a lifeguard for water conditions, beach conditions, or any potential hazards.
• Don't try to swim against a current if caught in one. Swim gradually out of the current, by swimming across it.
• Protect your skin and your children's skin. Wear sunscreen especially on the face, shoulders and back. Apply throughout the day when you are in and out of the water.
• Make sure you and your children drink plenty of water, even if you are not thirsty. Your body needs water to cool off.
• Wear eye protection. Sunglasses with UV protection are like sunscreen for your eyes.
• Wear foot protection. All too often, your feet or your children's feet could get burned or cut by glass, or other dangerous objects in the sand.
• In the case you or your child get stung by a sea creature seek immediate medical care. Locate the closest lifeguard and try not to touch the infected area; you could also get infected. Sea creature stings cause immediate, intense pain and burning that can last for several hours.
• Remove the victim from the water. In the case you cannot find a lifeguard, rinse the area with salt water or no water at all. DO NOT rinse the involved area with fresh water, because it will further activate the nematocysts and worsen the reaction. Seek immediate medical attention as the reaction could worsen over time.
• Raised, red welts develop along the site of a sting, often like in a whip like fashion, and may last for one to two weeks. Itchy skin rashes may appear one to four weeks after the sting. Extensive stings, allergic reactions, or severe toxic reactions are not common but do occur.

• Learn to swim. The best thing anyone can do to stay safe in and around the water is to learn to swim. This includes anyone participating in any boating activity.
• Make sure there are enough life vests for each and every adult and child on the boat. It is also important for the life vests to fit properly. You can purchase vests at your local boating store.
• Alcohol and boating do not mix. Alcohol impairs judgment, balance, and coordination - over 50% of drowning result from boating incidents involving alcohol. People should not operate a boat while drinking alcohol.
• Look for the label: Use Coast Guard approved life vests for yourself and your children whenever boating or fishing.
• Develop a float plan. Anytime you go out in a boat, give a responsible person details about where you will be and how long you will be gone.
• This is important because if the boat is delayed because of an emergency, becomes lost, or encounters other problems, you want help to be able to reach you.
• Find a boating course in your area offered by the U.S. Power Squadron, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary or U.S. Sailing. These courses teach you about navigation rules, emergency procedures, and the effects of wind, water conditions, and weather.
• Watch the weather: Know local conditions and prepare for electrical storms. Watch your local news program on Bay News 9 for the most up-to-date Tampa Bay weather forecasts.