All parents deal with the difficult struggle of keeping their kids safe. You have to find a perfect balance between keeping them safe and letting them find out about the world. You don't want them to be over-sheltered, but you also don't want them to be in danger. It's very hard to find the right balance, but it is possible. Your techniques must change over the years as your child gets older. For example, a stern "no!" and a spanking work wonders for a 3-year-old, but are likely to only make the situation worse when dealing with a teen.

In the toddler years, your main concern will be hazards within your house. Parents with babies who are just learning how to crawl have to go through a process of baby-proofing their house. Consider the dangers that various objects can pose. A curious toddler can be fairly inventive in finding ways to pull things down, knock things over, or generally cause self-inflicted harm. So, get rid of decorations or furniture that your child could climb up or pull down. Also, look at each of his or her toys to make sure it won't cause a choking hazard.

As the child grows up, you will start to spend more and more time apart. When you first send your child to daycare, it will be a whole new experience of being away from you for the first time. At this point, you need to start preparing your child for difficulties that will be caused by interacting with other people. This is when you start to teach your child about treating other kids nicely, sharing, not talking to strangers, respecting the teacher, and so on. This is the age at which it is easy to stifle the child, or make him or her fearful of other people. Don't scare the child - merely make it clear that bad things CAN happen.

In the teen years, most trouble will come from trying to fit in. This could be through ditching class, smoking cigarettes, doing drugs, having unsafe sex, or mouthing off to a teacher. The worst approach is to tell your child that a certain thing is "forbidden" without backing up your statement. Instead, prepare a well-crafted argument and present it to your child. Give him or her all of the reasons why the activity could be harmful. Make it clear that you are looking out for your child's interests, and you aren't just trying to ruin the fun.