What's the take on door locking when you have kids? I've locked doors all my adult life, but on afternoons after school and weekends during the day, my kids are in and out of the house all the time. Telling them they're not supposed to go play outside seems both harmful to them and an impossibility.
Can they be trusted with keys? If not, what about installing keypad deadbolts? Then they just need to input the code on their way back inside and don’t need to worry about losing keys.Originally Posted by Bio
My posts only represent my personal opinion and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or official policies of any employer, past or present. Obvious spelling errors are likely the result of an iPhone keyboard.
OK, I'll admit to apparently living in an alternate universe . . . and being a kid myself growing up in a small town (not all that far from Mayberry), well over a half century ago. Back then, wanting to be way early to Little League baseball games, I'd walk the 1+ mile to the ball field. And being in a uniform, 10-12 years old, with a glove and bat, I'd usually be offered a ride, which I gladly took. Same walking to the swimming pool or golf course (kids could play for a buck, if we made sure "stay out of the way of the adults"). Nobody I knew ever locked their house or car. Yes, "historical data".
A few decades later, and in a larger town, our son (as soon as he was fully aware of cars, etc.) was OK'd to go in and out pretty much at will. Certainly, during the day, when we were home, the doors were rarely locked. At night, everything was locked.
Now, wife and I keep doors locked when we're away, or when we're here if it's obvious that we're not here. Out doing yard work, etc. or playing with grandkids, house is mostly unlocked. Same with son at his house, out in the country.
Maybe wouldn't be smart in many parts of the country. Seems to have worked OK for us and lots of neighbors for decades in the South, certainly in the low-crime areas where we've always lived. Admittedly, door-to-door solicitation is increasing, but in almost every case I can recall, even with the garage door open, solicitors go to the front door and ring the doorbell.
I'm assuming those suggesting that kids carry a house key, or a key pad be installed, aren't familiar with having a bunch of kids around and summer activities. Or, assuming that kids even think about shutting a door, coming or going. ;~)
I don't know at what age you define as 'kids' but by age 7 (early 70s) I, and all my friends, carried the keys to our respective homes. We would lock the doors when we left to do all the fun things kids our age would do (unsupervised in those years) and use our keys to get back in. It was the norm.
" La rose est sans pourquoi, elle fleurit parce qu’elle fleurit ; Elle n’a souci d’elle-même, ne demande pas si on la voit. » Angelus Silesius
"There are problems in this universe for which there are no answers." Paul Muad'dib
Same norm here. Can't be a latchkey kid without a latch and a key...
no one sees what's written on the spine of his own autobiography.
For those of you with alarms. There are alarms and there are alarms. Here is a video that has had 2 million+views of how to simply defeat a simplisafe system. Simplisafe is not the only vulnerable system to this sort of thing.
BLUF: tape down the transmit buttons on a couple a baofengs on the right frequency and then drive a bobcat through the front door, unnoticed.
For any wireless security system, please attach another router from your main router, and connect devices through it to further segregate your physical security and anything else that would be considered internet of things from your main home network. My tivo's (I'm old, shut up.) and other IoT systems have no idea that my computers exist, as it should be.
Also, update your router's firmware every ... pick favorite meaningless holiday here. No one does this. Everyone should.
Well - - - and again not saying it's the best way, and it could be the worst in some cases - - - but once when we went to church, and for a reason still unknown, my sister decided to lock all the doors (she was a teenager then; I was actually around 7, in the late '50s). Turned out when we got home and found that out, neither of my parents had a key on them, nor did my grandparents who lived down the way a bit. Since it was Sunday, and there was no one to call to get the door unlocked (Did I mention "small town"? There were no locksmiths, only hardware stores with "Keys Made Here" signs, and not open on Sunday), my Dad decided we'd have to break a window to get in. I remember it took quite a whack (I asked to "do the honors") to break the window, even though it was single pane glass. And we did go to the hardware store the next day to get a replacement piece cut. I also got to help put it in, although I don't recall volunteering. Nor do I recall my parents carrying door keys after that, or locking the doors, other than when we went on out-of-town trips.
Mayberry . . .
No need to get a separate router. Any router OS worth a darn will be able to make multiple virtual wireless APs. If the one on your router can't, you should be able to replace it with something like OpenWRT.
This was The Way for us too by the mid 1970s.
"If I ever needed to hunt in a tuxedo, then this would be the rifle I'd take." - okie john
"Not being able to govern events, I govern myself." - Michel De Montaigne
Years ago trailheads were a target for people breaking windows to access the contents of your car. People started leaving signs on their windows that the car was unlocked and there's nothing of any value inside. Check it out.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
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