Few months ago, a mother locked her children in their home with a burning candle and went for a vigil in church. During the night, a fire started. Neighbours had to break in to save the children, all property got burnt. Some months ago, there was a school bus fire. There was report that the children had perceived a smell and communicated to the driver but he didn’t listen. Another child died in school because ill health was mismanaged. There are more cases of children landing in hospitals due to accidental injury. And in the past 6 months, more cases of children being molested by adults have come to light.

This week is #ChildSafetyWeek and the theme is “Safe Children: Together we’ve got this”. The future of safety is prevention strategies. We can no longer continue to be reactive to issues. Therefore, we all have contributory  roles to play to achieve a safer world for our children either as parents, teachers, caregivers, school owners, family members or religious centres. We need to do this together.

What can you do?
As parents, learn the right things and avoid unsafe choices
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Keep your homes, schools, religious centres accident proof. Reach out to safety professionals to guide you
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Teach children how to stay safe in different situations because they can act as long as they have the knowledge
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Get safety education reinforcement as a way to keep new knowledge at the top of minds of children e.g. books, school safety poster packs
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We all need to play our roles to ensure #ChildSafety because truly, together we’ve got this.