This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Wearsafe. All opinions are 100% mine.
I have two older teenagers, rapidly approaching the moment when they leave home, go to college, and take the helm of life by storm. They are becoming young adults. It’s almost time. We celebrated my senior daughter’s LAST first day of high school a couple days ago, and I suddenly realized that it’s going to be an emotional year of letting go for me. She turns 18 in a few short months. If all goes as planned, in January she will be taking dual- enrollment classes at a community college to help ease the transition from homeschool to college.
I’m so excited for her!
And I’m a tiny bit worried. I try not to focus on that part.
Above all, I want to make sure that her transition to adulthood is a safe, smart transition.
Encourage Smart Independence with Decision Making Skills
Teens have to start making more and more decisions on their own. Practice at making decisions is a very important life skill. Pretty soon she’s going to be choosing her career path, choosing classes, choosing to get up on time (or not), choosing a lifestyle — all without oversight. The more freedom I can give her to make choices now, while she is still under my roof, the more prepared she will be to make good life choices.
Encourage Smart Independence through Job Experience
So many people are ending up on the street these days, I find it shocking. We want our kids to be fully prepared to enter the workforce and support themselves. One way to help is by making sure they get on-the-job experience working for someone who is not an immediate relation. Un-related bosses are much better at saying “get to work on time, or get fired,” and reinforcing those kinds of life lessons.
Encourage Safe Independence with Routine Contact during Extended Separation
When my children need to be at work, or are off with friends, or taking classes somewhere else it’s important for me to periodically check in with them and make contact. We have a system. I can ask if they need an “out” (a ride home, an excuse to leave wherever they are) and they can respond “yes” or “no” without feeling conspicuous or getting questioned by friends. Texting is awesome because it allows this contact to be incognito and normal. I won’t do this when they are in college as much, but this is a transition period and I want them to know I’ve got their back.
Encourage Smart Independence with Life Skills
Children who cannot do their own laundry, cook their own food, cut their own meat, or clean up their own mess are not very likely to be successful in life. Gotta eat to survive! It’s not very safe to send your kids to college without the basic life skills they will need just for survival on their own. Sure, they can come home with laundry every two weeks. That’s nice for a while. But seriously? That’s encouraging dependence, not independence. And as much as we hate to let go, no one wants a 30-year-old who still brings laundry home. Teach your kids to cook and clean.
Encourage Safe Independence through Pre-Arranged Signals
If a teenager is headed to a party, a dance, an after school event, or even youth group having a pre-arranged signal to get help or get out is brilliant. Instead of texting them and awaiting an answer, set up code words for those situations where they don’t want to get a text first. Or for when they cannot wait.
Encourage Safe Independence with Knowledge
Knowledge is power. Sending your daughter off to college without explaining the specifics of how dangerous the world can be is unwise. A little sit-down talk about what to watch for, what to expect, and how to protect herself is essential in this day and age. A good self-defense class is also a great idea. Confidence and knowledge will go a long way to prevent bad situations.
Encourage Safe Independence with Wearsafe Technology
It’s one thing to leave your daughter at youth group, and another thing entirely to have her on a college campus as a young freshman and *especially* as a high school senior getting dual credit. This little device is worn in a hidden location and is used to contact the “safe” team of people. The device connects to an App on your phone that will notify everyone on the safe team once the button on the device is pressed, allowing them to hear everything that is going on, pinpoint location, and notify authorities if needed. The phone can be up to 200 feet away from the tag and will still activate.
Wearsafe is an extra layer of safety that makes us both very happy!
The Wearsafe device is free! A Wearsafe subscription only costs $5 a month, and the app is free for the people chosen to be on a person’s safe team. The platform for Wearsafe is available online. Each person in the network has access to live chat during any situation and can coordinate a response as a team. Wearsafe is the only product to offer audio, GPS, and group chat – and that is huge! Try it free.
How are you helping your young adults transition to Safe, Smart Independence?
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