Child Safety in the Modern Age; Everything You Need to Know About Child Safety

Do you know in the early 21st century approximately one million children between the age of 1-18 passed away each year from accidental injuries alone? This is a shocking stat which can put any sensitive soul to shame as it reflects that globally children are our most vulnerable assets today.

I am sure majority of the parents understand that it’s their prime responsibility to ensure that their child gets maximum comfort and security but have they ever considered how many layers and safety-related domains there are that they must be aware of?

We took the question to STOIS CEO Sofia Bilgrami, who explained the issue by saying that there are broadly eight safety paradigms. “Physical safety, toy safety, emotional safety, environmental safety, body safety, technological safety, nutritional safety, and vehicular safety,” she mentioned.

Bilgrami further dilated on the issue by saying that the global child safety requires a multifaceted approach which includes educating adults and children about risks, designing safe environments, conducting research, and advocating for appropriate laws too. “Education is one of the main pathways to improving child safety. Involvement of parents, caregivers, health care practitioners, policy makers, and other target groups within communities is needed to increase knowledge and effectively change attitudes and behavior,” she said.

This article will look into the said child safety domains to better understand the issue at hand.

Let’s start with infants. As parents, it is very important to take appropriate measures to ensure your child’s safety at home which also includes handing over safe toys to your child. Unfortunately, one must realize that every available toy in the market is not suitable for the child. Purchases must be age appropriate and it’s always advisable to check whether the toys are CE certificated or not.

In the words of Bilgrami, “the inner worlds of children are vast, and when it comes to emotional safety, now more than ever it is something to be taken seriously.” Child development experts maintain that in order to ensure emotional safety, the adults should always keep a watch for noticeable changes in a child’s mood or behavior. Communication is the key here. Children should always feel that there are people around them who they can speak to without any hesitation.

Beyond the safety measures, comes the environment. One can put all the safety measures in place, handover the safest age-appropriate toys but without positivity, they’d still be lagging. A positive environment helps make a child feel respected, valued and encouraged to reach their full potential. Here comes the most important bit of the article, parents must not shy away from introducing the concept of ‘good touch’ and ‘bad touch’ from a very early age by using the correct body part terminology, and the correct understanding of the word PRIVATE.

Living in the digital age, it’s next to impossible to keep your child away from technology. Nonetheless, one cannot emphasize enough the importance of parents keeping a close eye on what their children are accessing online, who they are speaking to, and the content they are being exposed to.

Nutritionists maintain that daily intake of fruits, vegetables, and water is pivotal for healthy growth, adding that extra care is needed on their diet intake. A child’s diet during the early years can affect their health in the future. The general eating habits are formed in the first few years of life, hence it is important that children are encouraged to eat good and nutritious food.

Lastly, this is something which we all are aware of but seldom tend to ignore, parents must make sure that their children are wearing their seatbelts, car seats are correctly installed, and have child locks in their cars. It’s a moral responsibility on all of us to leave a better world for the generations to come, and it’s only possible if as an individual and society we take positive measures for our children. Measures which prioritizes comfort and security at all times.