You cannot help loving your child more with each passing day, and the fear of exposing your little one to any harm is unavoidable. Child safety is a subject that encompasses more than just the worry of injuries and strangers. Every new generation brings with it some new fears and concerns, and in today’s world parents have a lot more to worry about.
It is a job of the parents to wrap the children in a cocoon that nurtures them in a safe yet non-suffocating environment. Balancing a child’s safety with freedom is important; this requires the parent to be a confidant of the kid.
Issues regarding child safety begin right from the time of pregnancy. Expecting parents start worrying about the child’s health before birth, and they are advised to go for regular checkups and screening to be on the safe side. Parents often face traumas like Down’s syndrome or Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (when expecting twins); in the latter case, surgery is an option and parents opt for a TTTS Lawyer to ensure safety of the babies.
When growing up, most parents practice common child safety measures like not leaving the child unattended, giving them the ‘stranger’ talk, and instilling good hygiene habits. In this day and age, more than these common measures are required from parents in order to keep their child safe; one concern that is giving many parents sleepless nights is online safety.
Children as young as two years can start using laptops and tablets for internet surfing. Whether they want to doodle something on the drawing app or watch their favorite cartoon, internet is the answer. The changing nature of online threats makes it even more difficult to tackle. From unsuitable online content to unhealthy social networking, children are growing up in a world full of online un-pleasantries. Cyber bullying and drug culture is also growing via online social websites; from the youngest toddlers to early teenagers, your kids are prone to many immoral concepts.
The internet however, is not a bush of thorns, but a rose with thorns. It opens an immense number of opportunities for learning and growing, so children cannot be cut off from it completely. Parents should adopt a tactic to make the kids learn and also remain safe when browsing on the internet.
Start off with befriending your children so they confide in you; teach them what is right and wrong. Your responsibility does not end here; be a cyber savvy parent and use internet filtering and program blocking techniques to sift website content seen by your child. You can also control web browsing by blacklisting certain keywords on the back-end, and control what your child downloads. Other software programs can help you filter email, social network content, and even video filtering on sites like YouTube.
Also take special care when trusting someone else with your kids. Choose babysitters wisely, and take frequent (but not suspiciously a lot) trips to your child’s school. Most importantly, keep a healthy and strong relationship with your child; encourage them to tell you all about their day, every day.
Child safety is a full time job, as there are so many physical and psychological predators out there. With child abuse, abduction, murder, and injury cases increasing at an alarming rate, it is important for parents to keep a stern eye on their child’s surroundings.
