Child Safety: How Do You Make Sure Your Child’s Friend’s Home is Safe?

This is a child safety article about keeping your child protected while visiting a friend’s home. 

If your children are school-aged and enjoy spending time at their friends’ homes that they meet at school, how do you ensure that their home is a safe environment before letting your child spend extended time there?

This admittedly isn’t a topic I’ve given much though to yet since most of my girls’ closest friends are actually just my closest friends’ children, but with Hadley going to public kindergarten next year, I’m sure this will be on my radar sooner than later.

I was talking with a mom recently who has children a few years older than mine, and she said that navigating this unchartered territory has been challenging for her and her husband (as they sometimes disagree about what is allowed and what is not).

When I asked her how she decides whether or not to allow her daughter to have a sleepover at a friend’s house or even just hang out for the evening, she said that she does a lot of praying and tries to follow her gut. She always walks her daughter into the homes that she’s unfamiliar with, and doesn’t allow sleepovers yet with friends whose parents she does not personally know on a friend level. I loved when she mentioned that she’s also not afraid to have deep, tough, honest conversations with her daughter so that communication remains as open as possible should she encounter a situation she is uncomfortable with while in a friend’s home.

I can certainly see how this child safety topic may bring about a whole new set of concerns and fears as my girls take more control over their social lives and who they befriend.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Was this initially tricky for you to navigate, or does it play out a bit more naturally than I anticipate? I’d love to hear your feedback, theories, techniques, etc.

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