SAFETY AND OUR CHILDREN

SAFETY AND OUR CHILDREN

Have you ever said goodbye to your child and said a silent prayer asking God to look out for them? Not so much because of the irresponsibility of children, but more so because of the dangers that we know are “out there”? How many of us worry incessantly about our children when they are not in our care?

I remember the first time my son Ronnie’s daycare had a trip (to an amusement park, no less) and I seriously considered not letting him go. I was certain that no one could watch over him as well as I could, so my way of dealing with the uncertainty was just to not let him go. I had always thought of amusement parks as a pedophile’s playground. The stories you hear about perverts who hang out in the bathrooms and do God knows what to unsuspecting children are enough to deter you from ever going.My son was 4 years old when his preschool sent home the permission slip for Great Adventure. His dad and I decided to let him go and we thought that we would just talk to him about staying in a group and having a buddy, the usual things that parents tell their kids, that we truly hope they listen to. Because Ronnie’s class was made up of mostly little girls, I told him that he if he had to use the bathroom he should go to the little girls’ room if there weren’t anymore little boys for him to buddy up with.

Well, Ronnie told me he was NOT going to go to any little girls’ room because he was not a girl! I explained to him that sometimes bad people hang out in the little boys and girls rooms and wait for little kids that are alone so they can hurt them or take them away. But if you have a buddy with you at all times, the bad people can’t hurt you or take you away from Mommy and Daddy. Well, Ronnie proceeded to demonstrate to me how he was going to protect himself from the bad people – demonstrating a bunch of karate moves that he had learned from his karate class. The more I tried to explain to him that he was no match for the big, bad people, the more he tried to convince me that he could take care of himself.

By this time, I was convinced that he just could not go on this class trip. I was so afraid that he would not see the importance of a buddy and then he would walk away from the group and I’d never see my little boy again!

I phoned his teacher and explained the situation to her. Luckily, his teacher was a good friend of mine and she laughed when I told her Ronnie’s ideas of defending himself against the bad people in the bathroom. She made sure to have a serious talk with the entire class about stranger danger and the importance of always staying with your buddy. They also did role plays about what to do if someone approaches them and they are uncomfortable or afraid. While my conversation with Ronnie freaked me out like no other conversation I’ve ever had with a child before or since, I’m actually glad we discussed it. I probably never would have known that he had such childish notions (what a surprise – he is a child, after all!) about how to stay safe.

It’s important for parents and teachers to always instill in their children the importance of safety. It’s nerve-wracking for parents to have to leave their children in the care of someone else. But if you talk to them regularly about safety, and pray a lot, you’ll both get through it!