It is pertinent to all parents to be directly involved in the safety, constant checking, wellbeing and monitoring of their children. One of the roles every parents must not overlook is the safety of their children.
Charity begins at home, they say. All what children need must be acquired at home first before setting out to learn other activities. Parents keeps worrying about how they can achieve protecting their children against all odds in these seemingly dangerous times.
Parents would give priority to ensuring they protect and safeguard their children until when they understand the risks.
Body safety is far beyond parents lending their children to learn outside the world, while sexual abuse is on the increase in the society is as a result of lack of infusing knowledge to the children. This makes sexual abuse to get perpetuated by someone the child(ren) knows and trusts. Parents should serve as mentors, teachers, coach, and leader to their children. Sit them down, talk to them and enlighten them.
A report shows that 59 percent of child sexual abuse offenders are acquaintances, 34 percent of them are family members of the child while only 7 percent are strangers.
We tend to pre-empt children are safe as long as we leave them with those they trust or as long as we don’t leave them unsupervised with adults we don’t know well.
Gone are the days that parents warn their children not to collect things from strangers. If at all they will, it must be approved by their parents’ consent by informing them before making use of it. Reverse is the case now and this has made teenagers to fall victim to sex offenders in the society.
A study found that the majority of sexual violence victims were below the age of 20. Risk also exists anytime children are left without thorough supervision with another child or a somewhat older child.
Many researchers estimate that one out of four girls and one out of six boys will encounter unwanted sexual touching of some sort before age 18.
Some parents feel irritated educating their children of sexual education. They tag it as being inferior and unreligious discussing sexual related education to them. Not only that, they find it hard sitting them down, enlightening them on body safety, give them tips to guide them, by so doing they would learn a lot.
How parents can teach their children body safety
Give proper sexuality education
Our children are our friends, companions and confidants. We shouldn’t hide anything from them when it comes to educating them about sexuality. Or else, they would learn it from elsewhere, which may not be for good purposes. Teach children the appropriate term for each body organ and what is used for when it comes to body safety (parts). Parents have to develop the tactics through to pass the message to them.
Give room for discussions
Are you the type of parents that doesn’t care about the wellbeing or lifestyle of their children? Many parents prioritize work over the welfare of their children. You hardly meet them at home except at night. The need to create discussion between us and our children will go a long way in chastising the safety of our children. We need to communicate to them in language well pleasing and understanding for effective learning.
No secrets
You must be readily available to your children when they have complaints about what has happened to them outside. They must tell you or another trusted adult. Your children must know the importance of the rule ‘no secret’. If someone says something to your children, they should be eager to disclose it to you. With the help of the rule ‘no secret’ they will relay everything that has happened to you.
Imbibe privacy
As your children grow, teach them about the privacy of their body. They should not be secluded with others while undressed. In homes where children’s rooms aren’t separated, those of the opposite sex shouldn’t be made to share the same bed. You don’t also dress up before your children irrespective of how young you think they are.
Stop means stop
In the event that someone touches them inappropriately, they should be able to tell the person to stop while moving away to safety. They should know that touching them in the chest, or nether regions of their body is inappropriate.
Teach self-defence
Enrolling your child is self-defence trainings could also keep them safe from danger where you are not available. Taekwondo, karate or any other martial arts skills would go a long way in helping them disarm a sexual predator or against any other forms of attack.
Don’t leave your child with others unnecessarily
The good and bad news about abuse is that most of it, statistically, is not perpetuated by strangers. Up to 90 percent of children who are victims know their abusers. It could happen at the hands family members. Almost all the rest is perpetuated by trusted intimates such as religious leaders, coach, or teachers.
