Safety Rules For Kids: How a Smart Home Security System Helps

As a parent, protecting your children is your top priority. But no matter how much you prioritize child safety, you can’t be everywhere at once. You may need to leave your infant with a nanny when you return to work or allow your preschoolers to play in the back yard while you prepare lunch. Maybe you let your seventh grader spend a few hours home alone after school, or you want to ensure that your teenager isn’t sneaking out of the house after you go to bed.

A smart home security system can provide the parental peace of mind you need, no matter where you are. Combine surveillance cameras, intrusion sensors, smart door locks, and other home automation devices with monitored home security, real-time video feeds, remote access, and mobile notifications for the ultimate in child safety.

Smart Home Safety From the Start

Set up your home and your new family for success by incorporating smart home security with babyproofing efforts. In this article from Today's Homeowner, you'll find five easy steps for babyproofing including how to incorporate popular smart home security products like Frontpoint's Indoor Camera and Smart Door Lock into your babyproofing planning. These products are great places to start and act as a second set of eyes in situations where seconds count. 

You may have a toddler who just learned how to open the back door, a pre-teen who needs to let themselves into the house after school, a kindergartener who sleepwalks, or a teen who doesn’t always respect their curfew. No matter your reason for wanting to keep track of your children’s comings and goings, there’s a home security device that can help.

Intrusion sensors are the most basic way to monitor when people enter and leave your home. You can put door and window sensors in place so that you receive notifications if someone opens a door or window. If your security system is armed, this will also cause an alarm to sound, which may be especially helpful for those the middle-of-the-night child safety issues.

If kids unlock a smart door lock with their unique user code, you can also receive a notification that tells you exactly who came home.

Motion sensors placed in high traffic areas (like hallways, the kitchen, the living room, and near your home’s entrances and exits) also let you know what’s going on. By keeping an eye out for security notifications, you’ll have a good idea of whether or not your kids arrive home when they’re supposed to and if they’re leaving the house when they shouldn’t.

If you’d prefer to specifically know who is coming and going when, video surveillance cameras are the best solution. Indoor cameras placed in your home’s most frequented areas will help you keep an eye on your children whether you’re at work, out with friends, or already in bed for the night.

Outdoor cameras monitor activity in your yard, while doorbell cameras allow you to observe who comes to your front door and when. Frontpoint’s home security cameras provide live video as well as recorded, motion-activated 15-second clips that can be viewed later. Infrared night vision, industry-leading detection range, and high-resolution technology deliver crystal clear video day and night. Opt to receive real-time notifications any time your cameras are activated to ensure that your safety rules for kids are being followed. You can monitor their interactions with friends and neighbors and receive rapid alerts if a stranger approaches your property.

Frontpoint’s Indoor Camera, Premium Indoor Camera, and Doorbell Camera also have a two-way audio feature. Use it to communicate with your children whenever you’d like—whether you’re reminding them of the house safety rules, comforting them if they’re scared, providing instructions in an emergency, or simply telling them to close the refrigerator door.

With Frontpoint’s Doorbell Camera, parents can answer the door from anywhere, so that no one knows the kids are home alone. Children can also use this feature to communicate with visitors without having to unlock and open the door. This is a huge safety benefit, as most burglars will knock on a home’s front door before breaking in. No one wants their child to accidentally give access to a criminal or have a thief break into their home because no one answered when the intruder rang the doorbell.

Surveillance cameras are also the most effective burglar deterrent, causing almost 60% of would-be thieves to choose a different target.

Learn more about home security cameras—why you want them and what to look for.

Some people have concerns when it comes to installing video surveillance inside their homes. Rest assured that Frontpoint Security protects the user's privacy by only recording when motion is sensed, or the camera is directly accessed by the owner—and never when the camera has been placed in privacy mode. All footage is safeguarded using military-grade encryption, and no one besides authorized account users accesses Frontpoint video recordings.

If you choose not to install internal security cameras but have areas of your home that need to be monitored for your children’s safety, you can install security sensors. Properly placed motion sensors can inform you if your kids enter restricted areas within your home, like the attic, your office, or the master bedroom, bathroom, or closet.

Door and window sensors can be installed on medicine cabinets, cupboards containing cleaning products, gun cabinets, safes, liquor cabinets—pretty much anything that opens and shuts. Whether your toddler attempts to grab a bottle of bleach from under your kitchen sink or your teenager is looking for alcohol, you will be informed and can take action immediately.

Even children who are generally responsible enough to be left home alone for a few hours can be careless, forgetful, or fearful. If your kids arrive home from school to an empty house, there are several precautions you can take to ensure that they are as safe and comfortable as they can be.

Children who need to let themselves into a locked house may misplace their housekey, have trouble unlocking the front door, or accidentally leave their key in the lock after they go inside. Leaving a house key hidden outside is a huge security risk. And kids can get scared if they can’t find their key or have problems unlocking the front door.

A smart door lock solves these problems by allowing children to easily let themselves in using an entry code rather than a key. And if your child happens to forget their code, you can let them in remotely using Frontpoint’s mobile app. Set up mobile notifications for your smart lock and receive real-time alerts when your kids get home and enter their unique user code. No more waiting for them to call you to let you know they’ve arrived safely!

You can even use the app to make sure your youngsters lock the front door behind them—or do it for them if they forget, with a simple tap on your smartphone screen.

With Frontpoint, you can also arm and disarm your home security system remotely, making sure your child is protected even if they forget to set the status after they arrive home. Intrusion sensors may also be set to trigger alarms and/or provide notifications individually, depending on your customized set-up and unique needs.

You can create “no-show” alerts to notify you if your student doesn’t arrive home from school on time, or your teenager breaks curfew. Here’s how it works:

1. Set a time window for each day of the week when you expect your Frontpoint security system to be disarmed.
2. If the system isn’t disarmed within the specified time window, you will receive a text or email notification—a good indication that your child hasn't arrived home when they are supposed to.

Plus, the system can even determine these alerts automatically. Frontpoint’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engine enables a feature called Smart Schedule Activity Patterns. The system learns routines and can alert you if something is amiss, like kids not arriving home at a normal time.

Smart smoke and heat sensors linked to a smart security system drastically increase your family’s chances of surviving a home fire. They not only sound an alarm when smoke, heat, or rapidly rising temperatures are sensed, but also send instant alerts to your smartphone so you can call the fire department and check on your children if they’re home alone.

A Frontpoint monitored system will also alert professionals—24 hours a day—who will contact the fire department after attempting to verify whether there is an emergency. This provides incredible peace of mind for parents when they are away.

Carbon monoxide is a serious health threat that you can’t see or smell. Frontpoint’s Carbon Monoxide Sensor will trigger an alarm if dangerous levels are present and immediately notify monitoring professionals who contact emergency services without delay. Quick assistance is vital, as prolonged exposure to CO can cause confusion, loss of consciousness, and eventually death. If this poisonous gas ever incapacitates you or your children, you have the security of knowing that help will be on its way.

Whether you’re home or away, parenting teenagers or infants, you can rest assured that the latest home security technology is there to help. Security sensors, video camera systems, and other smart devices keep you in the know on where your loved ones are and what they’re up to, and they send help when it’s needed most. 

Learn how to create a home fire escape plan for greater child safety.

Frontpoint keeps homes safe whether families are there or not. We've been revolutionizing the home security industry for over a decade. And we're just getting started. To shop DIY home security systems, check out our Security Packages. If you have questions or would like to discuss a quote, contact us at 1-877-602-5276.