Hey You! Safen Up!

A few months ago, my wife heard about a new DVD coming out called The Safe Side, which is the result of the collaborative efforts of John Walsh and Julie Clark. Since the previews looked promising, we put in a request for our library to order the video. Then we waited for the release date.

When it came in, we were the first to borrow it, and are very happy we did. The kids loved watching it, and learned some very valuable lessons in the process. We've borrowed it 3 times already, because the kids often request it.

The "star" of the video is SafeSide SuperChick (played by Angela Shelton of "Searching for Angela Shelton" - that's her on the cover), who is goofy enough to get the kids to laugh, but serious enough to get to learn the important lesson the video teaches them.

Child safety discussions aren't the easiest ones for parents to have with their kids, but they may be the most important. We try to balance the need to protect them from harm with the need to protect them from being introduced to "grownup" topics too soon.

But since it's never too soon to give your kids the information they need to be safe, The Safe Side does an excellent job of delivering a sobering message in a way that kids can deal with.

This is not to say that the video is a substitute for talking to your own kids about safety, but it's a helluva jumping off point. The video does the heavy lifting of introducing the topic. The rest is up to you.

FYI 1) Check out the reviews on Amazon.

FYI 2) 10% of the proceeds are donated to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

FYI 3) I have some child safety links at the very bottom of the right sidebar.