BE SAFE!
Now that it is July and the pool season is really spicing up, I would like to give some serious advice.
When you go to the pool you must be careful, because there are predators out there!!!! Heres some Chewie rules for staying safe at the pool!
1. Stay in groups!! I cannot stress the importance of staying in a group of 3 or more! When at the pool by yourself, your more vulnerable, predators seek out people like this. Even the buddy system is good. Just always stay with someone! And if you don't have anyone, just bring a parent who can watch by the sidelines!
2. Dont talk to strangers!!! Since we were little our parents always said "Now dont talk to strangers!" And we rolled our eyes and said "We wont!" But it is a very good rule to follow by. Its ok to make small talk with maybe a cute guy that came up to your group but never give away your real name, phone number, where you live, or where you go to school! Take this chance to come up with a secret identity for yourself! The less real info you give, the safer you are.
3.What to say? If your ever in a situation where someone comes up and starts talking to you and you by yourself and they say something like "Hey my friends are over there you should come and meet them" (Note: his friends are away from the regular flow of people) or they make you feel uncomfortable in any way heres what you can say:
A) "Sorry, I can't, i gotta get back to my friends" (and walk in a different direction)You want to make him think your here with a group! Its good if you actually have friends where your going but who cares if your there alone and your friends arent really over there???? Atleast you got out of the situation! And if he follows you, go over to the nearest life guard pole and just stand by it, swim by it, just stay near that adult until you can call you parents and go home!
B) "No" Its simply and to the point! You dont want to go over there. He will probably ask you why and dont give him a reason just continue to say no! Who cares if he thinks your weird, you dont know the dude!! He will soon give up!
C) "I cant talk to strangers, sorry" This is for if you really feel uncomfortable and need to get out. This is the best thing you can say because its the truth, he wont go further into it, and he probably wont come onto you again.
Now if someone starts to grab you or pull you away from the main crowd heres what you do:
Say no, and if the person is still grabbing you, SCREAM YOU HEAD OFF! Kick and scream and punch and kick some more until the creeper lets go! NEVER EVER let them take you! They want to hurt you. He will let go of you because he doesnt want to cause a people looking at him and asking questions. Then once your free, you run to the nearest adult person: Whether its a life guard, a maintenance crew member, even another adult, your likely safer with one of them then on your own!
4.Listen to you senses. What will be most useful to you is to listen to that little voice in your head that says 'DANGER DANGER DANGER, this is a bad situation!' If you talk to someone or see something or someone that makes your red flag go up, just stay away from it, stay on the other end of the pool if it makes you really uncomfortable.
You can always walk away from a situation. You can always say no. It is ok to be uncool and say that you cant. Heck, its ok to bring your parent to the pool! You just need to make sure you stay safe, but still have fun! Just keep your eye out and use common sense.
Have a great swimming season ;)
Chewie
Chewie, I need some friend advice. My best friend likes my older brother and they're dating...she's been lying to me and a bunch of other crap i don't want to go into...what do I do????????????
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteBest friends should not lie to each other!! If she's your best friend then she would know that boyfriends come and go but friends are forever. Have you confronted her with the problem yet? Maybe you should call her up or when you have her over ask her: Why are you treating me like this? I thought we were best friends? Did I do something to hurt you?
Maybe she feels that she has to lie to you about things involving your older bro. because she thinks you don't approve of their relationship!
But in the end you need to confront her with the problem and work it out. If you two don't come to a conclusion about whats wrong, you may realize that she's not a real friend and you don't deserve to be lied to or anything else! No one deserves that. And if you two do come to an agreement or your problem is worked out, and she goes back to what she used to be doing a couple months later, you may need to take a friendship break for awhile or decide not to be friends anymore. There is only so much you can do to try to save a friendship. Sometimes you have to do what is best for you. Not the other person.
Do what you can to talk to her, and give her another chance to stop, but if she continues, you have to decide how much you want to get hurt!
Chewie