Safe Family Submission Guidelines

Updated 07/04/03

See other section guidelines and general BPO guidelines [HERE]. Please visit the main BPO site and individual sections to get a feel for our needs. [HERE]

Safe Family

The Safe Family section of Busy Parents Online Magazine is gearing up and actively seeking informational articles, creative nonfiction, personal essays, poetry and fillers on, but not limited to, the following topics:

· Home protection
· Vehicular defense (carjackings, hidden assailants, road rage)
· Types and use of weapons
· Keeping our children safe
· Child abuse in all its forms (sexual, emotional, physical, verbal)
· Domestic abuse (spousal/significant other abuse, both male and female, hetero or homosexual)
· Elderly abuse
· How to report suspected abuse
· What to do if you believe your child may have been abused
· Children's safety
· Home security
· Self-defense
· Martial arts (children and adults)
· Rape prevention
· Zero tolerance in schools (pros and cons)
· Reviews of books on abuse, recovery, healing, self-defense or martial arts

We are also looking for personal essays to specifically go in our "I Can't Believe I Did That" and "From Victim to Survivor" sections.

Examples of "I Can't Believe I Did That":
· Did you enter the house with the door open only to find the burglar standing there with your TV?
· Lose your pepper spray or firearm in the bottom of your purse when you needed it the most?
· Found your child with a firearm that you forgot to lock up or place the trigger guards on?
· Regret not asking security to escort you to your vehicle when your sixth sense was screaming for attention?

These stories can be told through humor or stark reality.

The "From Victim to Survivor" section is exactly what it says. It is our belief that one of the best ways of fighting abuse is for survivors to tell their stories and allow readers to realize abuse has no racial, socio-economic, educational or religious barriers; to show abuse or rape can happen to anyone at anytime.

If you have such a story, the Safe Family section of Busy Parents Online wants to hear it. Our goal is to help those who have lived through or who are currently in abusive situations by letting them know they are not alone and that there are ways out. We also want to teach our readers ways of living their lives as safely as possible.

While we don't believe in wrapping up these issues in pretty paper or politically correct euphemisms, we do require authors to remember this is a family site. Foul language and bigotry (racial, gender, religious, lifestyle) will not be accepted.

Articles and essays should be under 1,200 words; reviews 300 words; fillers 250 words and poems limited to 35 lines.

Articles with quotes should include a list of source contacts. Please include a bio with all submissions and if you have a family or author website, please include the URL so our readers can find more of your work.

Queries and submissions may be addressed to: safety@busyparentsonline.com

All submissions should be pasted into the body of your email along with your bio, byline, or tagline.

Safe Family is a nonpaying market accepting both first electronic rights and reprints.

Tenna Perry
Safe Family Editor
Busy Parents Online Magazine