Imagine if your life was like the McCallister family’s in the film, Home Alone. The stress makes life more aggravating than it should be, the chaos in your home is too much to handle, and everyone is screaming and yelling at each other. You finally burst, and everyone is silent; whispering and staring at you. You look at your mother and see the disappointment and anger in her eyes. It’s for this short moment you feel as if no one likes or wants you. She demands you to go to your room and you tell her you never want to see her or your family again. You wake up the next morning with the house empty and you ask yourself, “Am I the next Kevin McCallister?”

All fun and games aside, the dangerous things that may take place when you are home alone are endless. If you end up alone at home during the holidays, it is important to consider what could go wrong. The Christmas season brings lots of traveling, as well as expensive items into your home. Both these things seem like excellent incentives for a break in. No one is home, and there is all this free stuff to take. This now brings up the question, what would one actually do if someone broke in? In the movie Home Alone (1990), Kevin was very wise about each obstacle he made the burglars face. Sometimes it’s fun to think about the fictional scenarios movie characters find themselves in and wonder what you would do in that situation. I know that if the day came when I would be in a similar situation as Kevin, I would definitely face many troubles, and be very scared. Here’s what I would suggest to do in this situation, but of course I hope you never find yourself in it.

1. State Your Game Plan

Everyone has their special talent or way of defeating the bad guy. Now, unless you are a wuss, take these suggestions very seriously. I suppose you could grab your handy dandy umbrella and Nerf gun and hope for the best, but if you want to survive, you should trust me. You must first begin by calling the cops. Lets face it; you’re no Superman, and there is no way to possibly fight off grown people if you’re just a little high schooler.

2. Face the Reality

You must understand the danger you’re really in. Don’t go blindly into the area of danger. Understand that whoever is in your house could be armed and could hurt, or even kill you. You are no Incredible Hulk and you can’t just throw the crooks around. Understand that during the time that passes while you are calling the police and the time they arrive, you must remain safe. How do you do this? Be quiet, ready to defend yourself, and remain calm.

3. Plan of Attack

Now that the rules and safety are your foundation, it’s time to plan your attack strategy. Start by creating a way that you can or at least try to remain safe. This refers to that game plan. After this, time to figure out your attack.

Let’s take a situation of failure for example. Let’s say that you are alone one night, playing XBOX with the boys, communicating through a headset. You hear the sound of shattering glass and an evil laugh. You think, “holy guac!” -as you realize what’s going on. You get off the XBOX and begin looking for the nearest weapon around. An umbrella your mom made you take to school, in which you broke trying to open, is lying nearby. You grab the umbrella without thinking and run out of your room like there’s no tomorrow. “WHAAAAAAA,” you scream at the bad guy, feeling like a tough man whose no mama’s boy. You only find the man staring and laughing at you and reaching for his pocket. All of a sudden…

NO! This should never be your idea of a safety plan, or a plan of attack. Do you see everything that went wrong in that example? This cool kid didn’t call the cops, grabbed the most useless and trash piece of defense he could have, and thought it would be just a grand idea to attack without thought. That’s not the right thing to do. If you are alone, you don’t have to be the hero for anyone but yourself. Now, obviously that would be different if you had siblings or pets but it is just you and the soul of your home.

Make sure to make responsible decisions that can impact your life for the better. Just like Kevin did in “Home Alone”, outsmart the villains. Make them slip and fall on the ice, while your at, and create hundreds of other obstacles to stay safe. These tips may help you, or at least help you know that by not being careful, you could seriously get into serious trouble. If you follow my advice, you will become the hero of Christmas! Well maybe not Christmas, but the hero of your home.