How to dial 9-1-1 in 2-0-1-0
By Whitney
It used to be so simple: pick up the phone, dial a seven-digit number, and then wait for it to ring. Now, your phone might require you to press “Talk” before you can dial. And the one in the kitchen may have a different protocol. Or maybe you don’t even have a land line.
I’d love to think I could teach my children, ages 3 and 5, to dial 911 in an emergency, but I don’t even know where to begin. My husband is an iPhone user. Do you know how many buttons one has to press to even turn the thing into a phone before you can dial a number?
So maybe we should all take a moment to identify the simplest way possible to teach our kids to call 911.
First, they should be told to use a house phone because the call will be traced (in the case that the child says nothing intelligible). Second, if your phone requires an extra keystroke or two, add that to the mantra you teach. For example, “Talk-9-1-1” and have your preschooler practice whenever you call grandma, saying “Talk-555-1234” so that he learns about the Talk button.
More tips about teaching kids to use 911 are here.
Photo credit: kehedara on flickr
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