Perhaps the most disconcerting aspect of neighborhood life is knowing that although you might try your best as a parent to keep your children safe, that doesn't mean that your neighbors are interested in doing the same for their own children, let alone your children. Worrying about the other parental philosophies on your block is just the tip of the iceberg, of course. As parents, you spend your lives worrying about the outsider who wanders onto your block with the intent to harm children. Neighborhood crime-watch organizations are quite common these days, but within some neighborhoods, residents are forming a new variety of crime-watch committee: one that seeks to make life safer for children. Local news broadcasts bring us reports of missing children with disturbing frequency. These "child-safe" organizations can go a long way toward preventing such incidents.

One of the problems we face in many neighborhoods is that neighbors don't know each other. Either neighbors are transient, as is often the case these days when families get transferred; or we're simply too busy and too absorbed in our own daily lives to extend ourselves to our neighbors. While it's ironic that we live so close together and yet often don't even know each other's names or say hello, it's somewhat understandable because the pace of life has gotten faster -- much faster. Our anonymity is the first correction we must make before we form effective neighborhood child-safety organizations. Once a neighbor has been appointed the organization's leader -- either through self-appointment or by a group of like-minded neighbors -- create flyers to announce the purpose or your organization and the date and time of your first neighborhood child safety meeting. Stuff them in mailboxes, or attach them to front doors. This assumes that you don't know your neighbors that well. If you do, then by all means, call them up and invite them to your first meeting.

If you already have an existing neighborhood crime-watch group, create a subcommittee devoted child safety, and advertise your child-safety meetings at regularly scheduled neighborhood crime-watch meetings. This is the easiest way to spread the word and gain membership. You might also want to recruit parents from surrounding neighborhoods, because your children travel beyond the boundaries of your own street and need to know that friendly neighbors living on nearby streets can also help them if they feel any threat of danger.

Once your membership hurdle has been cleared, devote your first project the identification of all existing safety hazards in your neighborhood. Is there a nearby creek that poses danger to children? Are there busy streets nearby? Do drivers cut through your street at excessive speeds? Is your street poorly lit? Are there busy thoroughfares nearby, or is your street within spitting distance of an unsavory area? Have you noticed a group of older children loitering on the same street corner, looking as if they're up to no good? Is a neighborhood dog frequently unconfined? Is there an abandoned house on the street that could pose danger to children? Does a neighbor with a pool frequently leave his gate unlocked? When it comes to identifying hazards, there's safety in numbers. The more neighbors you have keeping their eyes open for danger, the better. Have everyone take notes for a week, and then compare your ideas.

Remember to explore the regions well beyond your own street. There might be a nearby intersection without a stop sign, or at which the stop sign is blocked from drivers' vision by shrubbery or trees. It might be time to recruit a volunteer crossing guard on school mornings. Does a neighbor leave his or her garage door raised for hours on end, allowing children to wander inside and possibly become injured? Does anyone own an empty refrigerator or freezer in their garage? Regardless of how careful that neighbor might be in regard to shutting his or her garage door, it only takes minutes -- a quick dash inside to answer the phone, for example -- for a curious child to wander inside and become trapped in an empty refrigerator. Several charitable organizations would be willing to take it off your neighbor's hands.

Once you've identified all of the risks -- or most of the risks -- within your immediate area, you can work together to start correcting them. Discuss strategies for solving these problems, and either discuss them at your next neighborhood crime-watch meeting or better yet, issue a flyer with easy solutions for eliminating danger in your neighborhood. Suggestions may include having neighbors chip in to build a wall behind the alley behind your street, which could provide a barrier to an adjacent busy street; asking all neighbors to keep their garage doors closed and locked, and to do so immediately upon entry or exit; and reminding neighbors to keep their gates locked. If you want to eliminate the risks inherent in such situations as poor street lighting or an abandoned home, call your city's public works department for help.

Obviously, some of these initatives are more expensive than others. If you're residing in neighborhood with a proliferation of young families, your chances are better of gaining support for such initiatives as building speedbumps to ward off drivers with heavy feet.

One of the most effective safety strategies throughout the years has been to place ID signs in neighbors' windows that let children know it's safe to go there in the event of an emergency. Two problems exist with such a program. First, fewer parents spend any significant amount of time at home during the day anymore. More two-income families exist today than at any time in history. But with a little research, you might be lucky enough to locate stay-at-home moms and dads, retirees, home-based entrepreneurs or telecommuters. The second risk facing the launch of a home-ID program is a sad one: the possibility that one of your neighbors has a criminal record, possibly involving indecency with children. But you don't have to abandon your plans for such a program. Call your local police department for help; they can screen prospective candidates through background checks. If any neighbor objects to the screening, the red flag should rise immediately. Make sure the appointed leader of your committee remains adamant that all participants in the program complete background checks with the police department. Your children's welfare depends on it.

And while you're communicating these safety strategies with your fellow neighbors, make sure you don't overlook the most important people in your neighborhood -- your children. Create your own newsletter for them, hold meetings for them, and talk to them about these risks and how to stay safe. Stage hypothetical situations, and ask children what they'd do in such a case. Invite the neighborhood, and help children feel safe by letting them know the neighbors are here for them if they need any help, no matter what time of day. In addition to holding separate and combined safety meetings for parents and children, hold neighborhood events to establish goodwill. Block parties, barbecues, pool parties, potluck dinners ... anything you as neighbors can do to maintain communication and remain aware of your surroundings is an insurance policy for your children's safety.

For any Block Parent program to be successful, it must be explained not only to the adults but to children as well. Children need to know that they can turn to the Block Parent when they are in serious trouble and their parents are not available to help them. Your Child Safety Committee could plan a small party for the children in the neighborhood where they could learn about the Block Parent program. Or, committee members could make short presentations about the program in classrooms or at student assemblies. Those serving as Block Parents might sponsor an open house to introduce themselves to the children and so that children will become familiar with the house.

Neighborhood life presents a lot of sticky situations when it comes to philosophies on raising children. For example, on the street where I lived as a child, several neighbors were startled to discover a young boy who couldn't be over the age of 5 or 6 pushing a lawnmower while his father watched (and yes, the lawnmower was on). This happened not once but on several occasions. The potential disasters were clear. Should someone call Child Protective Services? None us knew what to do, so we did nothing. Fortunately, nothing happened to this child, but clearly this was a situation that needed to be addressed and was not.

Published: June 30, 1999

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