Summer Child Safety Rules

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

For parents, summer is a time of new worries and discoveries, because the modern world is full of temptations and veiled risks that are not so obvious at first glance, but no less dangerous from this.

In the summer, the child is left to himself to a greater extent, and if we cannot always be around, then we simply have to teach the child safety precautions, giving him the skills to ensure his safety, teaching him to recognize evil, bad people and find the best way out of unfavorable circumstances … Be that as it may, it should be remembered that in the summer, the responsibility for the life and health of children lies entirely with the parents. Yes, we must admit that during the time that the child was in school or kindergarten, many parents lost their vigilance and are not so involved in the processes of understanding what happens to their children in their absence. Habitual outsourcing relaxes the parent during the school year, and he has to make some effort to establish interaction with the child, providing him with a sufficient level of safety. Many parents are even frightened by the summer period, since the daily worries that fell on the shoulders of teachers now become their personal concerns.

Child safety has two distinct spectra. The first is physical safety, which implies rules of behavior on the water, rules related to overheating and poisoning of the body, behavior with insects and animals, rules of hygiene and behavior on the road, on the street and in the forest. The second spectrum of rules is the rules of psychological safety, which imply the possibility and conditions of communication with new people, the ability to build the correct boundaries for personal safety and finding the child in a zone of psychological comfort that excludes violence. As a rule, by the summer, a lot of information on the first spectrum of issues appears in magazines, newspapers and on television. Yes, it is important to drink more water, teach your child to swim and keep your child in sight while swimming in open waters and pools. It is important to monitor the quality of products that deteriorate noticeably faster in the heat, wash your hands and prevent children from eating unknown berries. It is important to know what to do in the event of a bite from wild animals, ticks, wasps and mosquitoes, how to avoid these bites, and what first aid measures to take. It is necessary to explain to the child how to behave in case of lightning strikes, on the road and near bodies of water, how and what can protect from serious injuries in the event of a fall, for example, from a bicycle. But today we will touch on the sphere of psychological safety and how to teach a child to find a way out of difficult life situations that often arise precisely in the summer, when the child has enough free time that he can spend to get into them. The parent (if he cannot exercise control personally) needs to explain to the child all the safety rules, while it is necessary to take into account age characteristics, since too frank conversation can not only scare the child, but can also arouse interest in topics that have not yet particularly interested him. In the summer, the child's task is to take a break from the workload and develop physically and socially.

This is the time of communication, new acquaintances and falling in love. This is the time to experiment in relationships and test yourself for strength, resilience, the ability to resist temptations and withstand disappointments. This is an opportunity to see your body and see it almost under a microscope. In summer, a child can taste independence, discover new physical and intellectual capabilities. And yet there are dangers that only an adult can recognize and prevent. The danger of getting lost. This danger exists in children of any age, although it seems that getting lost is the lot of the little and ignorant. But often it is adolescents, in their exaggerated self-confidence, who are lost at the most crucial moment. You can get lost both in the forest and in the city, you can lag behind the group on a hike, you can run away from danger and get lost. Teach your child to behave correctly.

The first rule in case you are lost, no matter if it is in the city or in the forest, is to stay put. If adults find the child missing, of course, they will start looking, and the child should know about this, because it is panic that generates the desire to do unnecessary actions that lead to the loss of strength and other resources that may be useful for survival. Conservation of strength is an important aspect of a successful rescue. Arrogance and panic are his enemies. If you want to move in search of your own people, you can significantly distance yourself from them, which means you can really expose yourself and your saviors to even greater danger. The second rule is to mark the location and signal it. This can be sound or light signals in the forest and the ability to choose the right helper in the city. If a child is lost in the city, it is important for him to explain that it is better to approach people in uniform for help - police officers, firefighters, doctors, conductors, cashiers. Ordinary passers-by cannot always be friendly, and not everyone can ask for help. It will not be superfluous to have with you the phone numbers of your parents (business card) written down on paper. Indeed, in stress, even if a child knows them by heart, he can forget everything. If a child is lost in the subway, he must know that he must stay at the station at which he was lost, and in no case follow in search of the parent. This should be the rule. It's the same story if a child gets lost in a mall or supermarket. Designate a conventional meeting place (kiosk, curbstone, bench) or ask him to stand still if he does not know where the conventional place is. There are children who like to "get lost", and they deliberately irritate parents and adults responsible for them, wanting to experience a pleasant feeling of "being needed", to realize their needs for love and recognition. After all, if they are looking for me, then I am needed! It is important to explain to the child that such behavior is dangerous and unacceptable in public places, and hide-and-seek games can be moved to a safe place.

Selfie. Recently, selfies that children take in the most unexpected and sometimes dangerous places have become a serious danger - on rooftops, on rails, on bridges and trains, often using moving objects for this. It is important to understand that the desire to take a selfie refers to psychological dependence, which is due to the pathological desire of children, and more often adolescents, to attract attention to themselves, to compensate for the lack of self-esteem. Psychologists and psychiatrists have been sounding the alarm for a long time, but reality brings and brings information about the real victims - victims of dangerous selfies. Surprisingly, many selfie lovers admit that they did not know that it was dangerous. It is important to understand: adolescents do not always know that some objects, such as electric trains, are under high voltage. It is necessary to inform children in an accessible and understandable form about the safety rules and the consequences of their non-observance. Sometimes children lack simple and understandable information that they did not receive in physics lessons. Parents need to be in dialogue with their children, understanding their needs and, perhaps, it is better to spend money on a good high-quality photo session, satisfying the child's need for spectacular photos, rather than pushing him to the roof of the house for more likes on social networks. If a child has a need to prove his exclusivity to his peers in a way that is dangerous to his health, then something in your relationship with him has gone wrong. Internet safety.

In the summer, when educational activities go out of the spotlight, children who are not burdened by lessons spend a lot of time in front of a computer on the Internet. What are the dangers of the Internet? Firstly, these are unnecessary and dangerous acquaintances, often associated with the risk of losing money, since a child who is unable to distinguish between needs and desires can be sold anything on the Internet. Swindlers in the summer literally hunt careless children. The vigilance of adults here will not be superfluous. The second danger is content: pornography, violence, access to this kind of information do not correspond to either the age or the development of the child's psyche. You may not know about this, but the child may find fears that are not always easy to get rid of. The way out is parental control of the time that the child spends on the Internet. And it is best to replace this time with hikes, excursions, camp, active rest. Rejection and aggression on the part of children in a team. When sending a child to a camp, it is important to understand that any children's group is quite dynamic, and rudeness and cruelty towards children whose behavior, appearance or aspirations do not correspond to the general trends in the group can be manifested in it. In general, when sending a child on a trip with unfamiliar children, you should find out the rules of behavior in this group, the conditions that will be offered for living and interaction, and assess how your child will be able to correspond to the general level of physical, intellectual and emotional development, whether he can himself, without outside help, establish comfortable contact with peers. There are special camps where there are professional psychologists, who set themselves the task of helping in establishing such contact, where social interaction is the basis and task of camp life. But if this is a sports camp or a camp where special skills are needed, then it may be better to choose something simpler so that the rest for the child does not turn into torment. Summer is always a reason to learn something new if there is a good mentor in this matter. It is important to explain to the child the rules of behavior with the aggressor, the first of which is the ability to avoid collisions. Yes, this is not always possible, so the child should know when he is obliged to seek help from adults, which he should never and under no circumstances endure. It is necessary to teach the child to distinguish not only physical, but also psychological violence, to teach to interact in a group, to be able to work in a team. It will be useful to him in the future.

Sexual and psychological abuse. It is difficult to talk about sexual assault, but necessary. Unfortunately, children are increasingly becoming victims of adult sexual abuse. The reason for this is our hypocrisy and inability to talk with children about bodily safety and the boundaries of our body, about acceptable revelation with strangers. This topic is often taboo and has many conflicting feelings on the part of adults. We are afraid, and as a result of this fear we drive the problem into a dead corner of misunderstanding. Violation of the boundaries of the child's body, alas, begins at the moment when the baby sits on the beach without panties, and society, and the parents themselves, consider this the norm. I'm not even talking about hygiene issues, but the child must learn the norms of behavior in society, and these norms also apply to his body. Every child should know that his body belongs only to him, and strangers are simply unacceptable to do something with his body. An exception is the doctor, to whom he was brought by trusted adults. Parents should know and explain to their children that violence often begins with the words: "Let's not tell anyone about this - it will be our secret." The child, by default, considers the adult to be authoritative and correct and trusts his actions. Therefore, the child should be taught reasonable criticality, the ability to distinguish violence - both physical, which is obvious and obvious, and psychological, which can be hidden behind a mask of benevolence.

Psychological abuse is difficult to recognize because it can look like friendship, help and support, but it always has signs of manipulation and leads to complex psychological results with long-term consequences. It is important to teach a child to say "no" to adults, at the moment when he realizes that he is being asked to do something that is contrary to his personal or social norms. He should not be afraid and be able to share his experiences with parents who will not scold and condemn him, because this is what the criminal counts on, persuading the child to keep the secret. The correct reaction of the parents is a guarantee of trust on the part of the child in the future. Do not punish children if they are victims of violence, do not scold or shame. Contact a specialist psychologist, because in this case you cannot do without professional help.

Let summer be a wonderful, unforgettable period for your children with the kindest and most vivid memories.