It was only back in May, as the kick-off to my Summer Safety Series, that I wrote about the importance of maintaining safe supervision for young children in our community. Due to an unusually high number of very recent incidents, I feel it’s important to bring the topic up again.
Within the past few weeks, either my fellow UWPD officers or I have been called several times regarding very young children left unsupervised. While we recognize and respect the variety of child-rearing philosophies in our highly diverse communities, it’s key to point out that family service associations in the United States recommend that children under 10 years old be supervised by a responsible adult. A good general rule is, if a child is unable to tell someone their name, parents’ names, address, and telephone number, they should never be left alone without adult supervision.
The neighborhoods of University Apartments are very safe, but please don’t interpret that to mean there’s a complete absence of danger. All around our living area, there are heavily traveled roads, wooded, rocky ravines, steep drops, and the cold waters of Lake Mendota. All present innumerable dangers to unsupervised young children.
If you’re concerned about an unsupervised young child in the community, please call the UWPD non-emergency number 608-264-2677 or the University Apartments Office 608-262-3407.
Jeff Kirchman
University Apartments Community Police Officer
608-264-2677 | jkirchman@wisc.edu
University Apartments Community Center, Room 131