Child safety - Part I

Do you remember some of the advice which nowadays may seem somewhat redundant or even old-fashioned: “Don’t talk to strangers!”, “Don’t accept gifts from unknown people!”, “Stay away from the cooker!” or “Close the tap!”? I’m sure that, be it old-fashioned or not, this kind of advice is still given by parents to their beloved children.

These statements of profound care mirror the parent’s urge to protect his or her child. According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, our safety needs are fundamental, being one of the four basic layers of the individual’s “deficiency needs”, or “d-needs”, along with esteem, friendship and love, and physical needs.

In the first years of child’s life, parents must consider their breeding, as well as their safety. During childhood, parents always have an eye on their little children. But later on, they grow older and have to explore by themselves the big world out there. Therefore, you must make sure that, until then, your child knows his full name, home address and phone number. This information can prove helpful if he gets lost or if he encounters a problem. If such be the case, he will at least be able to identify himself and his family.

There comes a time when children must go to school. At this precise moment, parents start worrying more about the safety of their child, because he no longer spends every single moment inside the little, warm and secure environment that is your home.

The problem of child’s safety includes some well-known issues as bullying and stranger safety. Bullying is an aggressive physical or/and psychical behavior. For example, bullying can refer to violence, molestation or even verbal offences. You must explain very carefully to your kid that this kind of attitude exhibited by any person is an improper one and that no one has the right to treat others like that. You must encourage your child to immediately report this kind of behavior. He alone can’t handle such a problem, but you certainly can, as you are not only a grown-up, but also his beloved parent.