(Newswire.net — July 26, 2022) — Children are the most vulnerable in our society, especially to different kinds of predators. Yet, they are still very dependent on adults to survive. Additionally, children are innocent human beings and still don’t realize that there are people who intend to harm others.
This Innocence and dependence are the factors that make them the most vulnerable and puts them an easy target for predation. Moreover, the danger of predation on children nowadays triples as they become more engaged on the internet, especially on social media.
As parents, it is our responsibility to keep our children safe and away from the prying eyes of predators. If you don’t know where or how to start protecting your kids, here are five ways that you can do to ensure the safety of your children.
Familiarize the Offenders Within Your Area
The first thing you can do to protect your kids is to familiarize the child offenders within your area. Keeping your child away from a known offender should be your first step in protecting them. Unfortunately, it is difficult to identify whether a person intends to harm your kids.
However, it is easy to protect them from someone who’s already a known offender in your area. For example, Australian residents can check out this website https://kelsolawyers.com/au/offenders/ where they can see a list of the known offenders in their country.
Look at each face carefully and examine their faces. Look for physical identifiers that you or your kids can easily recognize if they cross paths with these offenders. Then, tell your kids to stay away from these individuals and call for help if these people ever attempt to come near them.
Discuss Predators to Your Children
As was mentioned earlier, predators nowadays are everywhere. Even if your child is at home, they can still be a target of predation through the internet. The internet is the present and the future of this generation, and it is not easy to deprive children of it.
So, what you can do instead is to ensure they are using the internet appropriately by discussing the danger associated with the internet and technology. And one of these dangers is predation. So, always remind them not to trust or even engage in a conversation with a stranger online.
That said, you should also remind them to do the same in real life. Avoid strangers, especially those shady ones. It is also crucial that you talk to your kids about inappropriate touching. It is known that the average age of abuse is 8 to 9. Therefore, you should talk to your child before they reach such an age.
It is recommended that you start talking about inappropriate touching by the age of 3. This way, they will become aware of what is not right and identify predators immediately.
Make Sure That You Are Involved in Your Child’s Life
Most parents are so busy with their work or business that they tend to forget about being actively involved in their children’s life. Thus, these parents didn’t have the slightest idea of what was happening with their kids’ lives, including abuse.
No matter how busy you are, you should be active in your child’s life. Know who your child spends time with and identify every adult they contact daily. If your child loves visiting a friend’s house, you should also figure out what they’re doing there.
Talking to your kids about predation isn’t enough to protect them. It would be best to incorporate action into the knowledge you instill in them, like being more actively involved in their lives. You should ask your child about what happens throughout the day.
Let them know and feel that they can trust and tell you everything without you getting mad at them. This is one of the effective ways to monitor your child and know whether they encounter something beyond what’s appropriate.
Teach Your Child to Say No
Predators don’t just pick a random child to assault. They are good at looking for prey that is reluctant to say no to adults. Remind your child always to trust their instinct. If they feel in danger or uncomfortable, they should say no.
To help your child, you should be open to their opinions first. After that, they should be comfortable speaking their mind and voicing their opinions. You can help them do this by giving positive feedback every time they voice their opinion. It increases their confidence and respect in sharing their thoughts.
It is also best to teach them non-verbal communication. It would be best if you showed them how to do non-verbal communication, like establishing eye contact and utilizing the right body language that will match their verbal language.
Educate Your Children About Their Body Parts
Child sex offenders often adopt cute names to identify a child’s body parts. If your child knows the proper name of each of their body parts, it may stop any attempt of sexual abuse. In addition, they can’t be manipulated easily by incorporating cute names on their body parts.
Remember, a knowledgeable child shows great power that can scare off predators. If they see that a child is smart and knowledgeable, predators will feel that they are in danger from the authorities.
Start Educating Your Children Immediately
Being knowledgeable is a powerful tool to keep your children safe from child offenders. Therefore, as a parent, you must spend time and educate them about the possibilities and open their eyes to the fact that the world is not full of unicorns and rainbows. Let them know that it presents dangers that can affect them for a lifetime. However, don’t forget to reassure them that both of you can defeat it if you work together and trust each other.