Locks, Keys and Safes for Barns and Agricultural Out Buildings

Posted on: 18 May 2015

For many people, the teen years are a time of rebellion and experimentation, and many parents find this troubling to watch. If your teen is currently sneaking out of the house, stealing your alcohol or engaging in other undesirable habits, there are several things you can do to attempt to curb their behaviour. If you want to ensure your teen is safe, consider the following ideas.

1. Put alarms on the door and windows

Alarms on the doors and windows can tell you if an intruder is trying to break into the house, but they can also alert you if the windows of doors are opened from the inside. If you cannot convince your teen to stop sneaking out after you go to sleep, this may be your only option as they will be caught leaving the home in the act.

2. Install locks on the liquor cabinet

If your teen frequently steals liquor or if you are worried that he or she might, consider having a locksmith install a lock on your liquor cabinet. This approach may sound extreme, but keep in mind that over a quarter of all fatal teen crashes involve alcohol.

Some parents also take the liberty of locking up other items. For example, they may lock up their child's car keys. It may not work every time (as your child can ask their friends to pick them up) but if you deter your child enough, they might give up sneaking out and might try asking for permission instead.

3. Switch to door locks that have codes instead of keys

If your teen sneaks out, he or she obviously has to sneak back in, and in many cases, he or he may just slip through the front door. If you have keyed locks, your teen just needs to quietly use his or her key to get back into the house.

However, if you have codes on your locks, you can alter the codes every week or month. That way if your teen sneaks out, he or she won't have the new code for the door, and ultimately, he or she will have to knock on the door to get back in, thus waking you up and alerting you that something happened that evening. Ultimately, you can learn more about your options by talking to locksmiths like Frost Security Locksmiths.

4. Consider some compromises

Obviously, putting a few locks and alarms around your house is much better than having your child sneak out, get drunk and die in a car accident. It is also preferable to the idea of your child breaking the law, being arrested and being held in by jail locks.

However, your child is not an animal, you cannot just leash him or her to their room. In addition to taking whatever safety measures you feel are important, talk with your teen. If he or she needs more freedom, try to remember what it was like to be a teen and try to find some compromises that work for both of you.