Reply to Safety items for a 15 year old girl

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[quote=Anonymous]Mine never had anything like pepper spray.

I agree with PP that the most important is spidey sense.  Be aware of your surroundings.  Walk confidently and like you know where you are going.  Don't have face in your phone or staring at your feet.  If there's a dark spot on the road (like lights are out, there's a hidden alley way, etc.), cross to the other side.  If you see a single male, cross to the other side.  Try to always be with a friend.

Before she started doing things like taking the train alone, we had a lot of conversations that were basically "it's okay to be rude."  Like, if you are sitting on a train that's 50% empty and a man comes and sit next to you, just get up and move and sit by a woman.   Any man who would sit next to a teen girl if there are lots of empty seats is suspect.  If a guy starts to chat you up, don't smile and try to politely brush him off.  Just say "I'm sorry, I need to leave" and change cars.  If a guy crosses a line (touches you inappropriately, is following you from car to car) do not be afriad to ask an adult for help, call transit police, etc.  (You always hear these stories of creepy guys on places touching teen girls -- the first time my teen daughter rode alone, I told her if a guy touches you at all, you immediately scream and tell the flight attendant you need to be moved.)

Make sure she knows how to use the emergency functions on her phone.  Mine knows this better than I do, but there is some function where if you press the side button a few times rapidly, it calls 911 and i think may also send a text to a designated person or something?  I also always have location on for her.

Mine has self-defense training (karate black belt) but I don't have much confidence she could effectively use it in a bad situation.

Someone is going to say I sound paranoid, but I actually give my teens a ton of freedom -- they travel independently, go places with friends, etc.  But I want them to be really confident and aware of their surroundings.  And I don't want my girls to fall into the "polite, don't want to be rude" trap that so many predators take advantage of.  I think that's the best defense.

Also, I would not let my teen girls job on trails unless they were VERY well populated and light out, and even then ideally not alone.  Better to job on well-lit neighborhood sidewalks in front of everyone's ring camera!  And I think if I had a runner I would also buy a German Shephard.[/quote]

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