Teach Kids About Phone Safety

We've been getting a ton of weird phone calls lately. Some are from 800 numbers. Some are from 866 numbers and some seem like "real" phone numbers. What all these numbers have in common, though, is no names pop up on caller ID. We typically don't answer calls without identifying names figuring they are scams or telemarketers, even though we are on the "no call" list. But, after seeing a few of these numbers a few times over, we picked one up last weekend.

The caller, a male, said "Is she home? I want to ask her about the form she filled out about the online college degree?"

I said "First, who are you? Second, no one filled out a form about a college degree. Third, who is she?"

The caller would only give his first name and then repeated "So, is she home?"

My response was firm and simple: "If you call again, we are reporting you to the feds."

Well, he called again, so we reported the number to the feds.

After this experience, I wondered if my kids, a tween and teen, would know what to do if the recipient of a call like this. Would your kids know?

If kids are old enough to be on line and answer the phone, they need to learn to see through calls like this. Why in the world would a home with kids and adults who have gone through college be receiving a call about a college course? If your kids are on the receiving end of one of these calls, it’s important that they understand how much that sort of call doesn't make sense and what to do quickly and simply. Here are my thoughts:

1. Help them to know that people try to get information from people and may sound innocent on the phone.
2.Reinforce to them to never, ever given their name or age over the phone or to let the caller know a parent isn’t home. They just have to say the parent or “she” is busy.
3.And, to feel free to just hang up. It isn’t rude to hang up on a stranger who is making you feel funny.

Did you know that it’s illegal for telemarketers to call? And, were you aware there’s a reporting system in place through the Federal Trade Commission?All you have to do is go to this page and a wizard walks you through the reporting system. That page, by the way, is the same page for the well known “do not call list”. Violating that list is also illegal so be sure to report those calls, too.

What do you do if you feel you or your family are in danger some how? Call the police for advice. They’ll know who to go to next whether it be another federal agency or the Attorney General in your state. But, closer to home, you have to start first with teaching kids how to be safe on the phone, as well as on line.

I’m a big believer of Caller ID with kids because you can counsel them to not pick up the phone if they don’t recognize the name, number or both. One of the best ways to help kids figure out "safe" phone numbers is to make a list that you can post near the phone or on the frig. That’s the safest way to protect them. And, in addition, reinforce to your kids to never pick up calls without names, 800 calls or calls they don’t recognize in any way. We all have phone machines or voice mail. If a call is that urgent from someone we know and they were calling from a number we didn’t recognize, they’ll leave a message and if we are home we can pick up then. Remind your kids that we are in control…not the caller. And, the really urgent calls will be from people we know, and people we know will leave a message.

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