| 1.
Make a commitment to taking care of yourself and your family. Give your children
consistent love and attention. |
| 2.
Make sure your children and their friends are properly supervised. |
| 3.
Help your children stand up against violence. Teach them to respond calm but firm
when others threaten them, help them understand it takes more courage and leadership
to resist violence than to go along with it. Show them appropriate behaviors by
the way you act. Make it clear that you do not approve of violence as a way to
handle anger or solve problems. |
| 4.
Get involved in your community and get to know your neighbors. Volunteer to help
with anticrime efforts and youth prevention programs. MENTOR! |
| 5.
Encourage your children to get involved in groups that build pride in themselves
and the community. |
| 6.
Be mindful of warning signs in your children and youth around you, seek professional
help and guidance if you sense the potential for violence. |
| 7. Make
sure your children do not have access to guns. Teach them the dangers of firearms
and other weapons. If you keep a gun in your home, unload it and lock it up separately
from the ammunition. |
| 8.
Try to keep your children from seeing too much violence in the media. |
| 9.
Teach your children ways to avoid becoming victims of violence. Teach them safe
routes to and from school and for walking in your neighborhood. Stress how important
it is for them to report any crimes or suspicious activities. |
| 10.
Make sure your children know what to do if they ever find a firearm or something
that might be a weapon. Stop, don’t touch, get away, and tell a trusted
adult! |
