As summer approaches, many children will find themselves at home while their parents are at work. Parents reports that one out of every 25 children in kindergarten through fifth grade find themselves home alone after school. When school is let out for the summer, even more children will likely be home alone for at least a little while. If your children will be home while you're at work this summer, a smart surveillance system could help you parent them remotely. Here's how.

Protect Your Kids

First and foremost, home surveillance systems are designed to keep your house -- and anyone in it -- safe. Most home surveillance systems, including non-smart ones, can be set up to contact local authorities in the event of an emergency. Smart systems provide additional security benefits, though. A smart surveillance system, can do the following:

  • send a message to your smartphone or mobile device if there's an emergency so you know about the emergency immediately
  • send you a message if your children forget to lock the door after getting home -- and let you lock it remotely
  • let you unlock doors remotely so you don't need to leave a key hidden that burglars could find
  • let you see who is at the front door if the doorbell rings -- and even speak with them

Parent Your Kids

A smart surveillance system also lets you parent your children, even when you aren't home. You can set up regular check-ins, during which you can talk about everything from how the day is going to whether they can play with the neighbor. Depending on your and your kids' schedules, you might want to go over the following topics during these check-ins:

  • what your kids' plans for the day are
  • what chores your children must complete
  • what is for dinner and how it needs to be prepared
  • whether your pets were given food and fresh water
  • When you'll be home

Of course, these short appointments are also a great opportunity to remind your kids how much they mean to you.

Keep Your Kids Comfortable

Some smart surveillance systems can also integrate with other smart devices, which can make it easy to ensure your kids are comfortable when they're home. Through some systems, you can adjust the thermostat so that the air conditioning turns on when they're home and off when they head out.

Some systems also let you turn lights on and off. With this particular feature, you can make your home welcoming when your children come home by turning lights on just before they actually get to your house. You can also make sure you aren't wasting electricity by turning off any lights that they forget to turn off prior to leaving your house.

While you could use pre-programmed thermostats and light timers to adjust the temperature and lighting of your home, these solutions don't let you make on-the-fly adjustments if your kids' schedules change (which they often do during the unstructured days of summer). With a smart surveillance system, you can easily make changes to the thermostat's and lights' settings each time your children alter their plans.

Get a Smart Surveillance System for Summer

If you've been thinking about getting a home surveillance system or upgrading your current one to a smart one, invest in a smart home surveillance system before summer begins. They'll help you keep your children safe, parent them and ensure their comfortable while you're at work. Systems can often be installed quickly, so you can likely still get one put in before the first day of summer vacation beings. To schedule an installation, contact a smart surveillance system provider in your area, such as Top Security Locksmiths.

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