Teens And Keys – Keeping Your Home Secure
Giving your teenager a set of keys to your home is a true test of faith. Faith that you can trust your teen to come and go while following your family rules, and faith that your teen will not lose the keys to the family home. Below, you'll find a few ways to help your teen succeed with the responsibility of carrying their own set of keys.
Consider Alternatives to Keys
One thing to consider is a keyless lock system for your home. A residential locksmith will be able to walk you through the many options. Options include a pin code pad, fingerprint, smart locks which work with smartphones, and so on.
Eliminating the need for a key will eliminate the chances of the key getting lost and ending up in someone else's hands.
Have Existing Locks Inspected
Allowing your teen to be home alone can cause you more anxiety than you had expected. Making sure that the existing locks on the doors and windows in the home will help to ensure that intruders will not be able to make entry.
Window locks are easily forgotten. Over time, the building materials around the window locks can become water damaged and fail. Your locksmith will be able to identify any issues and make recommendations and repairs.
Teach Key Safety
Teens may not even realize how dangerous it can be to lose track of a key. This is especially serious if the key is lost in a backpack, purse, or wallet that has the home address on it. If you're lucky, a good citizen will return it, but if not, it could end up being the tool that allows intruders into your home without you even knowing they were in and out while you were gone.
Teach your teen to never carry the key with their identification. If your teen drives, make sure that he or she knows to keep the glove compartment in the car locked so that the home address cannot be found on the documents inside. Another thing they should learn if driving is to lock the garage door opener inside the glove compartment when the car is parked or using valet parking.
Keeping the keys safe is an essential part of home security. Unfortunately, it is something so simple that a lot of people don't even think about it. Keep key safety in mind and make your teen aware of what can happen if they were to misplace them.