I dropped my eighth-grade daughter off at basketball practice at the community building and headed to the grocery store. I had enough time to put the groceries away before needing to go back for her. Imagine my surprise to find her at home when I arrived.
Practice had been canceled at the last minute, and I had missed the message on my phone. She had started the three-mile uphill walk home just as the sun was setting. Two townspeople known to her stopped and offered a ride; a confident young lady, she declined. Now in the shadows, a close family friend and fellow “girl mom” stopped and said firmly, “Get in.” The concern for a young girl out walking alone was clearly conveyed—and certainly warranted given recent reports in our area at that time.
Technology has evolved by leaps and bounds since then. The ease with which GPS tracking and instant messaging help us manage our day is amazing. That being said, how many telephone numbers do we actually know anymore? In conversations with students, I’ve found many rely entirely on their phone’s memory and have no idea of their parents’ actual phone numbers. While we use digital contacts daily, tapping “mom cell” is not enough. Every child needs to commit to memory their parents’ full names, home address, and phone number. It is a vital “low-tech” skill that must safely reside in our high-tech world. How about a family safety check-in ?
