Teach Your Kids Electrical Safety

Safety tips for working, playing, and living around electricity come in handy for everyone, but when it comes to children, they become even more important.

Adults at least have a healthy respect for the dangers of electrical shocks, but small children may not know the risks they are taking and engage in a number of fairly unsafe behaviors. When you’re dealing with electricity, there can be tragic consequences, so it becomes even more important to teach kids to respect electrical currents.

For very small children, your home should be child proofed to avoid electrical dangers by covering electrical outlets and switches and keeping electrical cords out of a child’s reach. As kids get older, you should make sure that your children understand these basic facts about electricity.

Electricity has the power to cause burns, shocks and even death. Appliances and power cords can be just as dangerous as electrical power lines if you do not take proper safety precautions. Electricity flows easily through water, and since your body is made up of 70% water, it will travel through your body as well.

Here’s the top safety tips to teach kids courtesy of LovetoKnow.com.

At Home

1. This one may be obvious, but you can never tell kids it enough: Never stick fingers or any object into an electrical outlet or light bulb socket.
2. Those same wondering fingers should be kept out appliances like toaster ovens.
3. Teach them to never use or touch anything electrical around water—running or standing.
4. Tell them what can happen to wires and cords when they get too close to heat. This isn’t too obvious to a young mind, so it’s important that you explain clearly.
5. Never pull an electric plug out of the wall outlet by yanking on the electric cord. And if that cord is damaged in any way, they should tell an adult. This one may also take a bit of extra explaining—but we all know it’s worth it.

Keeping safe outdoors is just as important as indoors as well. Here are a few more tips from LoveToKnow.com to talk to your kids about:

Outdoors

1. We know that kids, and even teens, love to climb trees. And we want them to! Have fun, get away from the TV, and climb a tree. But be sure to tell them that they need to stay away from tress that are near power lines. It’s dangerous and could be deadly.
2. Supervise your kids if they have a kite or a balloon outside. They can both easily touch or get wrapped around a power line—which can travel down the string and either cause a shock or start a fire. The same goes for electric airplanes and drones. Keep them far away from a power line. It’s a great excuse to get to the city park that you’ve been meaning to visit with your kids!
3. As tempting as it may be on a hot, humid summer day, stay out of the water during a storm. Whether it’s a pool, river, or a lake—stay out of the water.
4. Tell your child that if they see a line down or something stuck in a line, to tell an adult to call the power company or 9-1-1 immediately. If a friend, family member, or a pet touches the line, do not try to help, but have an adult call 9-1-1 immediately.
5. Climb a tree, not a utility pole. But remember what we said about trees and lines.

These are just a few of the important conversations that you should have with your child about electrical safety. Even just spending a few minutes with them discussing these points can help save them from potential danger.

Are you concerned about the electrical safety at your home? Call us at 856.769.3932.