Protect the Kiddos: Child Safety Month

November being filled with several events and holiday observations, most famous, being Thanksgiving which is the day to give thanks, but is it the most important? November was named Child Safety and Protection month in the early 2000’s, and it is dedicated to protecting the lives and rights of our country’s most precious assets, children. Believe it or not, not many are aware of this observation, It is frequently said that Children are our future, so why are we not all considerably recognizing it? The first step is Awareness, being aware of what is going on in the lives of children today. Children grow and change, and require various levels of protection, and even though their stories may be similar, no one child is the same as the next. It is not so much about reporting parents that do not successfully be a “parent” but it is more about ensuring that a child’s needs are being kept for in his/ hers best interest. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, there are many topics for child safety and protection. These topics include car safety, emergencies and disasters, food safety, healthy routines and habits, disease control, indoor and outdoor safety, poison control and toy safety. All of which contributes to a child’s mental and physical health, and safety. According to HG.org, a legal resource website, a caretaker should always consider putting together a plan for what to do if your child were to get into a bad situation. You can never over prepare, and even when sometimes the children don’t always understand why you do certain things a certain way, you will, it’s in their best interest. Some examples of good preparation would be, providing a recent photo id if the child is lost, remembering to put away all sharp or harmful objects, especially in the areas in which the child occurs most, or simply closing and locking the door, especially for toddlers who love to get into everything they are not supposed to be. As far as mental safety and protection goes, there are ways to prevent your child from viewing things on the internet at home, or on the television, and remember to be aware of what you let the child be exposed to at that age. Children resemble sponges around the early ages, they are likely to repeat and reenact everything they see and hear without any hesitation. The last note that most experts, including parents, and scientist that have performed countless hours of research seem to agree on is to not stress so much. There is always an ability to have some control but never complete control on what a child does, eventually you will have to be able to say to yourself that I know my child, will be able to make the decisions that will best suit them. The job as parents are to protect them and provide them with enough mental and physical stability as possible. Think of it like this the protection of our children will ensure the protection of how our future will be, protect our future, make it great.