BENGALURU: The recent abduction of an 11-year-old boy by a woman who lured him on the pretext of taking him to a swimming pool has raised child safety concerns in the post-Covid world. As schools reopen and children venture out after two years of living indoors, experts have urged parents and schoolteachers to begin conversations with kids to improve their social cognition.
Child behaviour experts, therapists, psychologists and neuropsychiatrists offer a common advice — create a safe space at home for the child to express and share everyday happenings, emotions and feelings. “Children are attracted to strangers through many devices. Some may offer food, but nowadays their tactics might have changed and they may even use mobile phones. Just like how we teach children about good and bad touch, we can help them with awareness about how strangers approach — some may tell them that their parents are in trouble or give them attractive stationery, etc... kids from primary to middle school are the most vulnerable,” Dr Shubha Madhusudhan, a child psychologist, told STOI.
Experts suggest parents use creative and effective tools to convey the importance of self-sufficient safety measures to kids. They can draw cartoons, write down bullet points on a piece of paper to be referred to when in doubt, speak about their own lives and get their children imaginatively involved, and so on.
School staff are also imperative to this process. Dr Satish Ramaiah, medical director at Maarga Mind Care, said his organisation has been holding training programmes for teachers as they return to school. “Children who have not experienced the school system for a long time or at all are quite vulnerable at this stage,” Dr Ramaiah said.
Experts also warn parents and caregivers about the probability of child sexual abuse as children manoeuvre their lives more independently than in the past few years. “There must be at least one trusted adult in the house for the child to open up to. The first half an hour of how you treat your child after they return from school is crucial. Instead of giving them instructions on how to store their things and clean up, hug them and talk to them,” said Lavanya Shankar, counsellor and psychotherapist.
Parents and teachers must also look out for irritability, hypervigilance, sexualised behaviour, aggression, sleep disturbance, avoidance of eye contact, persistent avoidance of someone, and separation anxiety.
Full report: toi.in
