ATM machines are a great way to easily access your money, but unfortunately they are also the home to a lot of crime.  There are several important safety tips to keep in mind when approaching, using, and leaving an ATM machine.

Avoid walk-up ATM machines.  Most banks are doing away with walk-up ATM machines, opting for the safety and convenience of a drive-thru teller machine.  You are safer in your car with all the doors locked and only the driver side window down than walking up to a machine.

Be alert when approaching the ATM machine.  This is particularly important if the bank is closed at night.  Look for anyone hanging out in the parking lot, or near the teller machine itself.  If you see someone that looks out of place, leave the bank and return the next day.

Be wary of people trying to help you.  And be wary of people asking for help.  People like to hang out at ATM machines and ask for help with their card, or offer to help you with your card, etc.  There efforts are rarely noble.  Chances are they are stalking their next victim.  Don’t let it be you.

Check the card slot on the ATM machine.  Scammers have been know to rig ATM machines with a little sleeve that fits into the machine to capture your card, and a small camera disguised as a security camera to capture your PIN number.  The sleeve eats your card, you punch in your PIN and when you leave because the machine won’t return your card you’ve given crooks your card and PIN information.

Put away cash after withdrawal.  Stash the cash in your purse or wallet and leave the bank premises after withdrawing money.  Don’t dilly dally outside the car counting money or organizing the contents of your purse.

Are you being followed?  If you leave the ATM and notice someone following you, go to the nearest public place and park your car (grocery store parking lots are good, or even better, a police or fire station.  Crooks like to stake out ATM machines and follow people to their next destination to rob them of their cash.

Review statements.  Check your monthly statements to make sure the withdrawal is recorded correctly.  As with any technology, ATM machines can make mistakes and record your transaction in error.  Hang on to your receipt until the statement arrives and you verify everything is recorded correctly.

Photo courtesy of Boss Tweed

In just a few short days streets will be filled with little goblins going door to door in search of treats.  It’s a fun time for parents, but it is also a time to keep your guard up.  Unfortunately, Halloween is a holiday for those who might do harm to our kids.  Parents, be vigilant, and remember the following safety tips:

Use the buddy system.  Older kids shouldn’t roam the neighborhood alone.  Always a good idea to trick or treat in pairs, or better yet, part of a large group.  There is strength in numbers, and it helps to prevent anyone being singled out as a target.

Young children should always be accompanied by an adult.  I’m amazed each year at the number of little ones I see running the steets without a parent in sight.  Be sure to stay with younger kids because there are just too many opportunities for them to get hurt out on a Halloween night.

Carry a cell phone or two-way radio. If you do get split up, a cell phone or radio will make it much easier to reconnect and coordinate a rendezvou point.

Emphasize to your kids that they should never enter a stranger’s house.  Only accept candy at the door, and if the homeowner says, “It’s just in the next room,” tell your kids to move on. This is an old trick of those with bad intentions of luring kids into the house.

Visit only houses where the lights are on.  The universal sign of a house participating in trick or treating is a porch light turned on, and or decorations in the yard.  If you see neither, move on to the next house.

Inspect your kids’ candy supply.  Throw away anything that appears to have been opened or tampered with.  Remove anything that looks unsafe for your kids to eat based on their age group (a hard-stick lollipop for toddlers, etc.).

“Turn the other cheek.” That’s the advice most grandmother’s give their grandchildren when they learn of someone bullying them.  Not my Nana.  She was a feisty thing when someone messed with her family.  In fact, she threatened to “jerk up and slap around” many bullies, parents, and even teachers, who she thought treated me unfairly.  My grandfather is an ex-Marine who often shared his thoughts on how to properly throw a punch, and other hand-to-hand combat techniques, with his ten year-old grandson.  Needless to say, my mom wasn’t too thrilled with either of their ideas on conflict resolution, probably because she was the one who often faced daycare administrators and teachers after I went rounds with the class bully.

Hit Me, I’ll Hit You Back

We’ve always taught our kids to defend themselves.  We are careful to differentiate the need to respond to words, and the need to respond to physical threats or actions.  And we obviously discourage them from ever being the bully themselves.  I’ve told my kids that if someone hits them first, they are to hit them back, twice as hard. Now I know this doesn’t sit well with pacifists out there, but I don’t care.  I’ve seen and heard too many cases of kids being bullied, harrassed and physically attacked to the point of causing life-threatening injuries, and I refuse to teach my kids to take a beating without standing up for themselves.

Zero-Tolerance in Schools

School administrators, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to punish kids equally for fighting–regardless of who instigated the fight, and who was merely defending themselves. When I was in school, administrators judged for themselves who started the fight after asking witnesses, and accounting for previous disciplinary records of those involved, etc.  Sometimes they got it wrong, but most of the time the bully was the one correctly punished, and the kid who stood up for himself was sent on his way.  But in the age of equal punishment any involvment in a fight usually results in a sentence of in-school suspension (or out of school suspension, in some cases).  The thought of getting in trouble often overrides the natural instincts for kids to defend themselves, and they wind up taking a beating when they shouldn’t have to.

So I tell my kids to fight back, regardless of the punishment they might face at school.  I will gladly take a couple days off of work to watch my kids if they are suspended for defending themselves.  Much better than taking a couple days off to tend to their injuries sustained from complying with a ridiculous zero-tolerance fighting policy.