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Keeping children safe

Comments

1. At 02:29 PM on 18 Jul 2007, Big Sister wrote:

   This is a very interesting topic, imho. Somehow we've got to find a balance to strike between keeping children safe and allowing them to develop, understanding the nature of risk and how to deal with it.

   So much of this, of course, depends upon their age = the stage in their development, and I think this is something that some parents don't quite know how to get right.

   For example, I know parents who ascribe a level of maturity to a 3 year old which is entirely inappropriate to their age, overestimating how much a child can understand concepts or make judgments. Equally, I know parents who underestimate how capable a 12 year old can be in assessing a situation without parental intervention, while others might ascribe total maturity to a 15 year old, without giving thought to their lack of experience.

   As adults, our role is to help a child to adjust to 'life' by handholding when necessary, and letting go (but keeping a watching eye) at the right time. It's very difficult, time consuming, and not a precise science. But without doing this, our children are liable to grow up unable to cope with the unexpected or to make good decisions.

2. At 04:33 PM on 18 Jul 2007, wrote:

   Big Sister (1)

   You're absolutely right. Take one example; there has been a trend towards 'child-friendly' surfaces in playgrounds (you know the stuff - looks like asphalt but you bounce like it's rubber). Children learn that if you fall from a height of, say, two metres you might get a surprise, but you won't do much damage. Then one day, in the real world, you find that falling two metres isn't quite as safe as you thought.

   Similar considerations apply to other areas of experience. What we should do is give children the information they need, help them to make sensible decisions - and then let them go.

   Sid
   

3. At 04:53 PM on 18 Jul 2007, Big Sister wrote:

   Sid: I think the surfaces are great BUT - you have to teach children that the pavements, etc., aren't made of rubber! Actually, most children learn that pretty quickly, and have the grazed knees to prove it.

   But you can use the two kinds of surfaces to, perhaps, teach children that there are things that look the same, but aren't the same, and that one is okay, but the other can harm. A simple lesson like that is something a 3 year old could probably cope with, and it will be an opening into bigger concepts later on.

   Just like the way we teach children not to touch a stove when it's hot.

4. At 05:09 PM on 18 Jul 2007, helensparkles wrote:

   I will bang the drum I always do by saying that the biggest risk to children is from their parents, or people they know, stranger danger is not worthy of the high profile it often receives. The solution to this is to get involved, to behave as if we are part of a community, and not to live in social isolation.

   As adults, we are all responsible for the safety of all children, not just our own. This would be much easier to achieve if stranger danger did not receive the prominence it does because it also leads to parents being immediately alarmed at the stranger offering assistance to their child.

   I can't just blame the tabloids (but I do) and the erosion of trust theyengender is damaging for all of us, not least to children.

5. At 05:31 PM on 18 Jul 2007, helensparkles wrote:

   Sorry, gather from the programme we are sticking to inanimate objects...

6. At 05:39 PM on 18 Jul 2007, mark rushton wrote:

   Children should be supervised during all internet sessions. It is a bit like letting your child roam around a city centre late at night on their own if you let them access the internet on their own.

7. At 05:53 PM on 18 Jul 2007, wrote:

   Regards the 'bubble-wrap society', I would agree. As a parent two winters ago I had to apologise to my disappointed daughter who had not got to play in the small amount of snow, which had fallen that season. During the couple of mornings and lunchtimes when the snow remained thick on the ground, her teachers had kept here class indoors. They watched it fall through the windows in their breaks.

   I went to the school to ask why thay had kept the children away from the snow. The reasons given were that it was a slip hazard and that snowballs can cause injury.

   I stood there exasperated in front of the headmaster "It's SNOW, not nuclear waste" I think were my words.

8. At 05:56 PM on 18 Jul 2007, Robert Jarratt wrote:

   My son's infant's school bans outdoor play when there is snow on the ground. That is really taking things too far.

9. At 11:13 PM on 18 Jul 2007, wrote:

   helensparkles (4 & 5) -
   To my mind there is not so much difference between danger from the environment and danger from other people. In both cases we need to protect if we can - but crucially we have to enable children to protect themselves. This means we have to equip them with (a) enough information and (b) decision-making tools.

   Robert Jarrett (8) -
   I was teaching a nursery class afew years ago. The nursery playground was the only area of the school which wasn't salted. When the nursery mums (the ones most likely to be pregnant or have younger kids) started falling over, I asked if we could have our bit salted. The answer? No - the nursery children might eat the salt! (We salted it anyway, and just told the kids not to eat it.)

   Sid
   

10. At 10:11 AM on 19 Jul 2007, Wonko wrote:

    As someone with a long involvement in the Scout Movement this is a topic very close to my heart. Scouting is all about allowing youngsters the opportunity to explore their World, learning from their mistakes, but in as safe an environment as may be reasonably expected. It's all about managing risk. You can never eliminate all risk, indeed to do so would render many activities utterly pointless, you do what you can.

    Over the last twenty years or so I have seen two worrying trends develop. One, an increasing overt sexualisation of media aimed at children. Please note that is not the same thing as sex education, which I believe should be a full part of education, and is all about giving young people all of the facts from which to make informed choices as they become sexually mature. What I am referring to is the kind of material where eight year olds are asked if they have a boyfriend and what they do with him. The bombardment of sexual images young people receive today cannot be healthy, in my humble opinion.

    The second trend I have observed is the wrapping up in cotton wool mentality that many parents slip into, with the best of intentions for protecting their child I have no doubt. The fact is that children are safer today than at any time in history. Sadly society seems all too ready to be whipped up into hysteria over matters such as paedophiles, child abuse, kidnapping, etc, to the extent that everyone is viewed as a potential threat to child safety. I'm not denying these problems exist, not at all, but we do need to regain a sense of proportion. As has already been mentioned the vast majority of cases of child abuse, sexual or otherwise, are perpetrated by someone the child already knows, usually a relative.

    These two issues have had direct effects on Scouting (and no doubt other voluntary youth organisations). There is an increasing problem with recruiting adult volunteers, either as uniformed leaders or non-uniformed helpers. The feedback that I have had is that people are worried about; a) being sued by parents should something terrible happen, or b) general preconceptions in society that if you want to work with young people there is something wrong with you and you must have an ulterior motive.

    In nine days time the 21st World Scout Jamboree will begin in the UK at Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Gilwell Park (National Scout Headquarters) near Chingford. At this event 40,000 young people - that's twice the number of participants at the Olympics - from all around the World will join together in peace and friendship, undertaking various activities designed to help them grow as individuals and aid their physical, intellectual, spiritual and social development. These will be facilitated by adult volunteers from around the World, who have all paid to be there, to allow the youngsters the space to explore and learn, whilst keeping risk at an appropriate level. That is the best definition of 'Keeping Children Safe' I can think of.