There are various things which parents and carers can do to help keep children and young people safe. These include:

Knowing the risks

Key to understanding and improving the safety of your children is in knowing what the risks are. Being fearful of a particular thing happening, like abduction, is not good in helping to protect your children when the risks or likelihood of your child being abducted is very small. Therefore understanding what risks are likely to happen and knowing what to do and how to advise your children about them is fundamental in helping to protect your child.

This website contains various pages about a range of different safety issues, including accidents, injuries, crime etc, for you to look at and find out more about.

Knowledge is power

As they say, knowledge is power, and when people have knowledge, i.e. know what the risks are to children, how to prevent needless risks to your child, what to say to them and what you as parents/carers can do about it, is important in empowering you and giving you the ability to protect your child(ren) as much as you can. This is one of the main reasons why this website was developed and creates a gateway for you to find out information about all sorts of issues which impact upon the safety of your child.

Talking to your child

How you communicate and talk to your child is crucial in helping them protect themselves from risks. Sometimes, this can be difficult, especially if a child or young person is set on doing a particular thing. However, developing mutual respect for each other, discussing issues openly, explaining the reasons for your decisions and accepting the views of your child are crucial in developing a trusting relationship with them.

For more information see the ‘Parenting with Confidence’ page on this website.

Setting boundaries

Setting boundaries, especially from an early age, is very important for the emotional and personal development of children and young people. At times there may very well be arguments about particular boundaries, i.e. what time children are allowed to stay out until. However, children themselves say that they want boundaries set in their lives. Important in developing and negotiating these boundaries is their involvement, and as long as your child have a say in how they are set and that their views are listened to and not dismissed, boundaries will often respected.

For more information, suggestions and tips about setting boundaries with your child see the ‘Boundary Setting’ page on this website.

Know where they are

While parents usually always know where their young children are, and that they are usually of an age that requires constant adult supervision, difficulties about knowing exactly where children and young people are only tend to arise more when discussing teenagers. Sometimes it can be difficult to know exactly where a teenager is. However, only by developing respect and communication between each other can trust be encouraged. Then children are far more likely to listen to your advice, take less needless risks or ignore your concerns.

Know who they are with

Equally, it may be difficult at times to know exactly who your children are with, which friends they hang around with, whether they have met new people or friends and what influence those friends may have or have together with your child. Again, this comes down to the level of trust and relationship you may have with your child. In addition, meeting their friends or people they hang around with will allow you to judge whether they are safe or not in their company.

If you have concerns about anyone your child is friends with then always talk to them about it. By discussing and talking through their good and bad points and why your child hangs around with them increases your influence and the chances that your concerns will be listened to. By dismissing your child’s views and forbidding them to have contact with someone encourages a rebellious spirit and increases the chance of child ignoring your concerns and having contact with someone without your knowledge or approval.

This website contains information and advice on various safety and crime concerns which can affect children and young people. To find out more and help empower you with information which can help you protect your child(ren) have a look around the website.