A criminologist, Dannah Eve, has shared a straightforward safety tip to protect your family. She suggests choosing a secret code word that every family member knows.
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Dannah, a mother with a substantial following on TikTok, believes this method offers several advantages. She explains this clever hack in a video with over 33,000 views.
In the video, she says, ‘Here’s a safety tip for all of my families out there.
“Have a code word that you can incorporate into day-to-day life.”
“This is something that I had with my parents growing up. I use this throughout my entire life, and this is something that we still use to this day.”
Expanding on this idea, Dannah provided more details and added,
‘Now, this could be used in a dangerous situation or just in simple situations where your child wants you to be the one to say no to something—a few examples. If somebody is to pick your child up from school that’s not you or your partner, give that individual this code word so that your child knows that that person is trusted by mommy and daddy. And make sure that they know, no matter how believable the story is, unless they use that code word, you are not to go with that individual.’
The mother, who holds degrees in both criminology and psychology, went on to say:
“A code word is something that you could also use in a dangerous situation as well. Let’s say a child is home alone, and somebody enters that home, or somebody that they know even enters that home, and they don’t feel safe; they can call their mom and dad and somehow work that code word into the conversation, and then the parent knows that something is not right.”
Dannah added: ‘Lastly, a code word saved me in so many situations with my friends growing up, specifically when I wanted to send a secret message to my parents so that they knew that they were the ones to say no and I didn’t look like the bad guy.”
“An example might be your child has a friend over, and that friend is asking to sleep over. So then your child can come to you and use that code word in a normal conversation so that you know that the answer should be no.”
“Or let’s say your child is at a party, and things start to get out of hand, and they no longer feel safe. They could pick up the phone and call you and, in a casual conversation, slip in that word, and you know you are to come get them.”
The content creator, who has also established her own fitness empire, wrapped up her explanation by saying:
‘There are truly so many benefits to having a family codeword.’
Viewers reacted to the video and praised her.
One comment on the video read: ‘We’ve got one. Haven’t had to use it, but my son is comforted knowing it’s there.’
Another comment read: ‘You give the best advice! Thank you.’
A third person wrote: ‘Great idea.’
In a follow-up video, as requested by many, Dannah provided a list of family code word examples.
She advised, ‘When it comes to a family code word, this is definitely something that you don’t want to overthink.
‘Now, this could be absolutely anything, but in my own personal opinion, it is not something that should be too common or something that is used in your family every single day.’
Sharing her ideas, Dannah added, ‘This could be a sport that nobody in your family plays, or it could be a food that nobody likes.’
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