We all want our families to sleep well at night, safe and secure in their surroundings. Unfortunately, lately, many people have felt unsafe in their own homes, which has become a national issue.  Instead of moving every time an area starts to feel unsafe, take the time to address the problems in the following ways.

One of the best ways to protect your home is by ensuring that intruders wouldn't want to approach your home.  You can do this in multiple ways, but the most obvious is using clear exterior lighting to ensure that your property is well lit all day and safe from anyone trying to sneak around your property, using security cameras that function and point out towards the street, and clearing shrubberies and bushes away from entrances so nobody can make their way in.  By taking these steps, you can already decrease your chances of your home getting broken into.

Talk to your family members about the best plans to follow if anyone breaks in or if your property suddenly becomes unsafe.  This could mean an exit strategy that protects everyone in the house or a plan that tells children how to ride safely.  Please don't make a game of it: be honest with them and try not scare them.  Practice this plan at least once every couple of months, like you would a fire drill until your children have a great handle on it and know how to protect themselves.

Small parts of your household’s behavior can be changed to ensure that you're all as safe as possible.  These can be making sure windows are covered when you're not in that room and ensuring all windows and doors are locked the moment you don't need them.  Shifting your behavior in these ways can ensure that they become habits that protect you over time and will give you the opportunity to create a household that's almost never vulnerable.

Installing a great security system should be one of the first steps all homeowners take the moment they close on the property.  Home alarm systems can keep you safe by simply existing and shoving a camera in the face of anyone who would want to break in.  Besides that, they're also able to alert you the moment anything's wrong, help you notice suspicious people before they attempt a break-in, and let you feel more secure in your home when you sleep at night.

Something that's important and often forgotten is that children love to discuss anything happening in their life with almost anybody because it's exciting and so much is new for them.  Unfortunately, this can be difficult for families who install security systems or have valuables that someone may want to break in for.  Talk to your children about offering up information that people shouldn't know, like security codes or door key codes, and why it's important to keep some information to ourselves.