How to protect children from violence?

How do we protect children from violence? 

As parents, we all make a serious effort to protect them from violence and abuse against them. We are constantly afraid and worried about the safety of children today. No matter how much the child is protected in the family, parents are constantly thinking about them from the time the child leaves the house for school in the morning until he comes home in the evening. Parents are worried about what kind of risks their child is at risk of facing.

So, how can we protect our children from violence? Can parents fully ensure the protection of their children?

Sexual abuse is often committed by people who work closely with the child and the family. According to recorded data, more than 80% of children who are abused are abused by people whom the child and the family trust the most. Also, a large number of violence against children occurs in environments where children are often present, such as at home and school. We must remember that in cases of child abuse, those people usually approach the child using systematic and tactical approaches. Before committing abuse, the abuser establishes a closer relationship with the child than usual, and through this, they will gradually work to persuade or trap the child into abuse.

Therefore, to prevent child sexual abuse, such risky situations must be prevented. But how can children and parents identify such people, situations or actions?

The most effective way for parents to do this is to build an open and trusting relationship with their children. Through such a relationship, you will be able to openly discuss how you and the child are protected. So how can you build a close relationship with the child to discuss such things?

Listen to the child. Give your full attention to what he/she says. Believe their word. Do not doubt his or her word. Give it full value. This will make your child feel that you are taking what he or she says seriously. This will help build trust between you and your child.

While you are teaching your child to respect adults, treat your child with the same respect. For your child’s safety and development, your child needs to know that being treated with respect is a mutual act.

Spend time with your child. Find out what your child likes to do. Spend time on those things. This will build a close relationship between you and your child.

It is very important to ensure that your child can tell you in confidence about any problems, challenges, or shortcomings they may have in their life. This can be done especially in such cases by not blaming them.

Every child should have the freedom to be themselves. This does not mean that we should not investigate the child in any way. We should be very close to our children. But as parents, by always trying to intrude on your child’s everything, the child feels that their parents have no confidence in their ability to make the right decisions and do the right thing. If there is a parent-child relationship based on trust and mutual respect, your child will not abuse this freedom.

Through a relationship based on mutual respect and trust, create space for your child to share his/her thoughts with you openly and honestly. Encourage your child to do so.

Through the close relationship you have built with your child in this way, you have provided the space and ability for your child to inform you if there is any kind of trouble, fear, serious discomfort or threat to his/her safety or if there is any indication of such a thing.

In addition, it is very important to be aware of your child’s movements, friends, people, and activities. If you and your child have a good relationship, your child will be able to share this information with you easily.

How to recognize child abuse?

Children can be taught how to protect themselves as young as 3 years old. But many parents have a problem with how to have this discussion. You can easily discuss this with your child by gathering the following points.

If someone touches us in a way we don't want, we may feel angry, hurt, disgusted, or afraid.

We know that some parts of our bodies are private. We call these private parts the parts covered by underwear or swimwear.

Your body belongs to you alone. You have the right to protect your body. Also, no one has the right to touch your private parts. No one has the right to ask you to touch his or her private parts.

So if anyone tries to touch your private parts, you can say no! If he doesn't stop after you say no, scream from the basement, run away, and tell an adult you trust as soon as possible.

At any time you feel angry, hurt, disgusted, or scared

Remember these things. You are special. Your body belongs to you. You can protect yourself.

In this way, you can provide children with knowledge and understanding about how to protect themselves. With understanding, you can also develop the ability or skills of children to face such situations. How can you do that?

First of all, you should work on developing self-confidence and decision-making skills in your child. A child with good self-confidence is easier to make direct decisions and face challenges. This can be done by giving children the necessary guidance and freedom to make decisions that affect their daily lives. This will develop their self-confidence and the strength and skills needed to control a situation.

Protect your child from the idea that discipline can be established using intimidation, verbal abuse, and physical punishment. Such actions can have negative effects on your child and increase the risk of child abuse. Positive and compassionate discipline builds a child's trust in adults, which increases the likelihood that the child will approach an adult when their safety is threatened.

If your child is being abused in any way by someone else, you should take steps to prevent it. The safety of children primarily depends on parents, and we must fulfill this important role to the best of our ability. As parents, your first responsibility is to provide the love, affection, and guidance your child needs to cope with the situation. In this way, you directly contribute to your child's safety as well as their physical and mental development and well-being.