Just a few days back, the Singaporeans received the sad news of the untimely passing of one of its young students during an outdoor school activity. The 15-year old boy who was the victim of a high-elements activity was described as being a mature and sensible individual. This sad event has thrown light on the need to rekindle discussions about personal safety with our kids. Even when we refrain from reckless behavior, the threats of accidents remain significant in certain situations. Therefore, a personal initiative or disposition to be mature and responsible in one’s actions is all the more important to minimize the chances of accidents.
Now, to all the parents who are reading this out there, we realize that you might be concerned. But, refrain from going into panic mode. There are some reasonable things that you can do to induce your kids to tread the right paths and be more responsible with their safety.
Shielding is not the best option
Shielding your kids from challenging situations is often the most preferred solution for parents when they enter panic mode. This is undoubtedly counterproductive. You cannot go on shielding kids indefinitely. What needs to be done is to ensure that your kids have the right skill sets to respond to real-life situations in a manner that ensures their safety. The primary educators in this regard are parents.
Give them the initiation
The simplest words of advice can prove to bring about a marked difference in the way your kids behave. Talk to your children about safety while playing, while crossing roads, using transport facilities, while using different equipment, and likewise situations. Encourage children to pick safe spots while playing and sensitize them about the need to shun dangerous games and places.
Keeping out the negative influences
Much of the content that our kids’ access across various media platforms is related to action or adventure involving superhuman characters and daredevilry. Their favourite shows and heroes might portray violent scenes and dangerous behaviour. This can induce similar behaviour among kids. So what can parents do here? Firstly, they need to keep an eye on the kind of content that their children are being exposed to. Make sure that they are not being exposed to age-inappropriate content. Also, explain to them that most of the stunts and things that are done in movies are performed under the proper conditions of safety and by professionals who have undergone rigorous training.
There is another unhealthy factor that can lead to reckless behaviour among kids. Any guess?
It is none other than peer pressure. Children might be forced into reckless behaviour because it is seemingly being viewed as ‘cool’ by their peer group. Such activities can range from anything including performing dangerous stunts using bikes to outrightly breaking the law. We need to sensitize our kids and convince them that there is nothing cool about reckless behaviour.
Narrating incidents of people in their very similar predicament ending up in trouble due to reckless behaviour can be brought up to make your case clear. There are many real-life examples and quoting them without overdoing it can help in ensuring that your kids remain proactive and responsible.
Teaching them to safeguard their own bodies
Parents have to be open to having varied conversations with their kids. Discussions about sexual health and awareness about harassment are some examples of topics that parents have to make the effort to explain to their kids. You need to talk to your kids and help them understand the difference between ‘good touches’ and ‘bad touches’. Make your kids aware that they are the masters of their bodies and no one is supposed to invade their physical space and privacy.
Encourage seeking help
Most of us get gut feelings when something is going wrong. If you rewind your thoughts to your childhood, then you will see that this was the same during that period as well. Tell your kids to trust their gut feelings and respond or get help in the event that things seem to be going wrong.
If faced with threats from the surroundings or individuals, make sure that your child feels like coming to you. For this, you must build a good deal of trust through full support, constant and precise praise, and of course, accommodative behaviour towards your children.
Teaching your kids to keep themselves safe is as important a life skill as any other and parents must take an active role in ensuring that kids are able to master this skill. Meanwhile, the onus is on all members of society (in collaboration with government efforts) to ensure that we create an environment that is safe for our kids to grow and blossom in.
Safety tips for kids!
Exam Smart Tips
Exam Smart Tip #1 – How to Encourage Our Kids to Speak Better?
Exam Smart Tip #2 – How to avoid carelessness?
Exam Smart Tip #3 – Establishing Routines!
Exam Smart Tip #4 – Let’s Read Carefully!
Exam Smart Tip #5 – Beating the Exam Fever!
Exam Smart Tip #6 – How to Eat Right for the Exams?
Exam Smart Tip #7 – How to Avoid a Meltdown?
Exam Smart Tip #8 – Taking Stress out of Tests
Who We Are
Mission statement – “Empower every student to achieve full potential”
88tuition Pte Ltd offers the best PSLE Tuition Singapore for children looking to ace the PSLE exam. With effective learning materials and high-quality explanatory videos by experienced trainers, children are provided with the best online PSLE tuition.
With the basics learnt well, children will be able to grasp advanced concepts easily. Looking for the best PSLE math tuition, PSLE Science tuition and PSLE English tuition in Singapore? 88tuition has got you covered. The online training videos and assessments are designed in a way that children are made to enjoy the learning process.
UEN 201817310C
271 Bukit Timah Road; #03-08; Singapore 259708
