How safe is your child?
May 12, 2009
THE beginning of 2009 will forever remain a tower of painful memory in Mzee Hamidu’s family. The family received shocking news that their daughter Rehema, who had gone to spend the December holiday with her aunt had been rushed to hospital. It was estab
By Jamesa Wagwau
THE beginning of 2009 will forever remain a tower of painful memory in Mzee Hamidu’s family. The family received shocking news that their daughter Rehema, who had gone to spend the December holiday with her aunt had been rushed to hospital. It was established that an unidentified man from the neighbourhood had defiled her.
Painful as it is, this incident is a fresh reminder of how much can go wrong if your child’s safety is compromised.
It is holiday time again. Where is your child spending much of the time ? For many parents, the thought of having children at home for three weeks is a tablet too bitter to swallow. They push them off to stay with aunties, uncles, grandparents, nephew’s church mate, niece’s friend and any other far-fetched ‘relatives’.
Did you know the risk involved in pushing your child to stay with another person? It does not matter how ‘related’ you are to that person; what matters is the person is not the child’s parent.
In a society where blood hungry witchdoctors are targeting children as their sacrificial lambs, we have to be more vigilant than ever before.
The risk of your son being sodomised, your daughter being defiled or your child sacrificed is too painful to be taken lightly.
Trustworthy as some relatives appear to be, nobody else can take responsibility over your child apart from the parent.
Children are vulnerable and they need to be protected. Your child sees you as a tower of refuge and a shield from all danger. For purposes of nurturing, love, care and protection, there is no person better than parents and no place better than home.
Parenting is an interactive relationship with your children in a family context. This relationship has its own dos and don’ts clearly spelt out to both parents and children. This relationship also culminates into a ‘family culture.’
Each home has its own ‘culture’ that is often distinctly different from other home cultures.
Sometimes children pick harmful habits that remain with them for life during holiday visits. Yes, you trust that relative, you may claim. But how much do you trust the neighbourhood, the house help or relatives staying with that relative?
Children need close care and supervision that some adults are often too busy to provide. In fact, not even your home is exempted from these risks.
The only difference is that in your home, you have the capacity to put in place some control measures. Did you know that parenting is an opportunity which is passing by? Your child is in your hands for a limited period of time, yet there is a lot you need to teach them.
There are numerous life skills that neither a teacher nor a relative can impart in your child. Only you can impart them. Holidays, therefore, provide you with that opportunity to make a mark on your child’s morals, personality and general behaviour.
It is a time to bond with your child especially after three months of school term; time to catch up and compensate for the lost time and time to understand who this child really is.
Remember, intimate time with a child is a golden component of good parenting.
The best gift you can offer your child this holiday is yourself and your time.
Please, I beg you, do not delegate this responsibility to a relative.
The writer is a counsellor
jwagwau@newvision.co.ug
THE beginning of 2009 will forever remain a tower of painful memory in Mzee Hamidu’s family. The family received shocking news that their daughter Rehema, who had gone to spend the December holiday with her aunt had been rushed to hospital. It was established that an unidentified man from the neighbourhood had defiled her.
Painful as it is, this incident is a fresh reminder of how much can go wrong if your child’s safety is compromised.
It is holiday time again. Where is your child spending much of the time ? For many parents, the thought of having children at home for three weeks is a tablet too bitter to swallow. They push them off to stay with aunties, uncles, grandparents, nephew’s church mate, niece’s friend and any other far-fetched ‘relatives’.
Did you know the risk involved in pushing your child to stay with another person? It does not matter how ‘related’ you are to that person; what matters is the person is not the child’s parent.
In a society where blood hungry witchdoctors are targeting children as their sacrificial lambs, we have to be more vigilant than ever before.
The risk of your son being sodomised, your daughter being defiled or your child sacrificed is too painful to be taken lightly.
Trustworthy as some relatives appear to be, nobody else can take responsibility over your child apart from the parent.
Children are vulnerable and they need to be protected. Your child sees you as a tower of refuge and a shield from all danger. For purposes of nurturing, love, care and protection, there is no person better than parents and no place better than home.
Parenting is an interactive relationship with your children in a family context. This relationship has its own dos and don’ts clearly spelt out to both parents and children. This relationship also culminates into a ‘family culture.’
Each home has its own ‘culture’ that is often distinctly different from other home cultures.
Sometimes children pick harmful habits that remain with them for life during holiday visits. Yes, you trust that relative, you may claim. But how much do you trust the neighbourhood, the house help or relatives staying with that relative?
Children need close care and supervision that some adults are often too busy to provide. In fact, not even your home is exempted from these risks.
The only difference is that in your home, you have the capacity to put in place some control measures. Did you know that parenting is an opportunity which is passing by? Your child is in your hands for a limited period of time, yet there is a lot you need to teach them.
There are numerous life skills that neither a teacher nor a relative can impart in your child. Only you can impart them. Holidays, therefore, provide you with that opportunity to make a mark on your child’s morals, personality and general behaviour.
It is a time to bond with your child especially after three months of school term; time to catch up and compensate for the lost time and time to understand who this child really is.
Remember, intimate time with a child is a golden component of good parenting.
The best gift you can offer your child this holiday is yourself and your time.
Please, I beg you, do not delegate this responsibility to a relative.
The writer is a counsellor
jwagwau@newvision.co.ug