Safety Starts at Home: Protecting Children and Teens Through Communication

Practical strategies every family can use to help young people stay safe, connected, and prepared.

The disturbing, developing story about Nolan Xavier Wells (https://apnews.com/hub/ben-crump ), a talented 18-year-old college football player from Mississippi who was found dead on July 6, 2026, sparks a reminder to have conversations at home to address friendships and safety for young people to help avoid additional potential tragedies. Tips provided below can help parents and guardians to initiate an upcoming conversation.

Family Sharing Devices

Life360, a comprehensive location-sharing app (https://www.life360.com/location-sharing) creates a virtual safety net. It is designed to keep everyone in the loop about each other’s whereabouts and safety. 

Find My

Set up the Find My application to share your location with friends and family, locate lost Apple devices, and find missing AirTags or third-party items.

“With iPhone, you can share your location with family and friends to keep in touch, coordinate around an event, or know when a family member has arrived home. You can share in different apps — and you can choose what location information to share,” according to Apple support.

A live location can be shared for specific periods of time or on an ongoing basis. See https://support.apple.com/en-us/105104  to learn more about the iPhone feature. 

Gizmo and Other Cellular Smartwatches for Children

Verizon offers the Gizmo Watch 4, an ideal first device without Internet access and social media capabilities. This device uses its own cellular phone number and is equipped with GPS location tracking. The Gizmo Watch allows parents to program managed, approved contacts. A monthly service plan is required. Young users can call, text, or video chat while keeping parents in the know. Similar smart watches are available through other cellular carriers.

Child Shoe Trackers

Although Apple’s AirTags can be used to track personal items, they can also be used to track children’s locations through insoles in hidden shoe holders. Search for hidden insoles AirTag holders online.

Establish Communication Rules

Teenagers and young adults should remain aware of household rules and expectations to communicate with their parents or guardians when they are away from home. Check in times, curfews, returning from visits with friends, adhering to established communication rules before trips are taken, and discussing habits that support safety help to safeguard their wellbeing. Even young adults who no longer live at home can benefit from an agreed communication method that strikes a balance between privacy, independence, and safety. Parents can participate in family rules themselves to reinforce the value of communication rules.

Consider adding a family safety code word to a family safety plan. Parents or trusted adults can act immediately if the discreet word or phrase is sent to them because a young person feels that a situation is dangerous. Young children can also benefit from knowing and using a family code word. 

Establish Protocol Regarding New Contacts

Will you allow your children and teens to share their private information with new associates? Some parents may not want them to exchange cell phone numbers immediately. Communicate how you would like young people in your household to communicate with people they do not know well. Although teens may want to feel independent, incidents of stalking, or receiving unwanted calls or messages can become unintended consequences if information is provided too freely.

Meet New Contacts and Parents

True friendships are not built overnight. Require children and teens in your family to introduce potential new friends and their parents to you. Establish a way to meet with fellow parents and their children to assess if similar values and interests are shared. Set the tone for mutual respect by allowing time for everyone to get acquainted when the time is right.

Remind Your Child or Young Person About the Buddy System

Age does not matter when it comes to staying safe. A buddy system can improve safety when children, teens, and young adults are in social situations. Establish expectations about staying in pairs, groups, or instruct your loved ones how to handle group activities. If a young person becomes isolated during an outing, unfortunate outcomes can increase. Sometimes other young people can begin to engage in questionable activities that cause some group members to become isolated. Remind children, teens, and young adults to stay with their group or at least with a trusted buddy if something causes the group to disband. Prepare for unexpected situations. Role play or have serious discussions about how to handle uncomfortable situations that could arise in adolescence. Remind young people that they should call you for help regardless of the situation.