Teaching Young Kids to Call 911

How do young kids learn to call 911? A long, long time ago, a child could simply run to a phone wired into the wall, pick up the receiver, hear a tone, and dial (either push button or rotary). The good old landline.

When my husband and I got rid of our landline a few weeks ago, I offered my relatively new cordless phone/answering machine for free to my friends on Facebook. I was surprised at the number of people who said they would not part with their landlines for safety and security reasons.

One parent keeps theirs in a central location in case the kids need to call 911. Smart. I know several people who do this, and I wonder if they are using a corded or cordless phone? Is it a true landline, or is it through the cable company? What if the power is out?

If it’s a cordless and the electricity is out, even if it’s a landline, they can’t make a call. Same if it’s cable. In a power outage, the only way to use a landline through the phone company is with a corded phone. The only way to use a cable-company line during a power outage is with a corded phone plugged into the cable modem, IF you have added a battery backup. In this case, you pick up the handset, the dial tone should sound, and you simply have to teach your child how to press 911.

What if you just have a cell phone? You can still teach your young child to call for help.

Do you have a passcode on your cell phone? Even if you do, your child can still make an emergency call. They’ll have to be at least three years old (or a clever two-year-old) to learn this life-saving skill. 

Say you have a medical episode and there’s no other adult around. You’ve taught your child how to make an emergency call on your cell, so you’re good. 

Your child knows to tap your screen to wake it up. When the facial recognition test fails, most phones will ask for a passcode. Most parents don’t want their child to have their passcode, but no worries. 

Once the phone wakes up, and the facial or passcode login fails, an option to make an emergency call appears on the screen. On an iPhone, it’s on the bottom left of the screen. Even if the child can’t read, they can remember the location. Or, if your child is strong enough to hold in the side button of an iPhone, the option to call 911 will appear on the screen and they simply swipe the slider. I’ve seen 18-month-olds swipe on an iPad, so that shouldn’t be too difficult.

Once the 911 operator answers, no matter what kind of phone is used, the child needs to be able to ask for help. They need to clearly say their name, address, location (if they aren’t at home), and what the emergency is. Verizon has a nice guide for teaching your child these skills. 

Do your children know how to call for help? Do you have any tips to add to mine? Please let me know in the comments.