Dear Moms, Be Extremely Cautious about Child Abuse!

Children are the most beautiful creations of God. After we become parents our life mainly centers around our kids. We do everything possible to give them the best possible life we can. We love them and care for them more than ourselves. We pray to God to give whatever happiness is in our share to our kids and whatever sufferings are in store for our kids, to us. Our heart bleeds to see even a minor scratch on our kid’s body; such is the love of parents for their children.

Nothing can be more heartbreaking than seeing your child suffer mental or physical pain because of being abused by someone a stranger, a family member, a teacher, a doctor, a friend, a cousin anyone can be the monster in the guise of a human being who can leave your child’s mind scarred forever.

In the current scenario, we as moms have to be extremely-extremely alert and cautious about the people around our child. Let your hubby, in-laws, friends, and society call you a maniac but don’t ever give up on your child’s safety.

Follow some easy tips to fight against child abuse:

• Make sure you are leaving your child in safe hands (when you can’t be with him/her).

• Tell your in-laws and your hubby if they are looking after your child, not to leave him/her with any servant or any neighbor even for a minute.
• If you have to leave your child in a day-care ensure you can access their video cameras from your workplace to monitor your child.
• Give random surprise visits to the day-care to check how they are treating your child behind your back!
• If you find anything fishy in the day-care immediately take a stand and tell them firmly but politely.
• If your child can understand ‘the good touch’ and ‘the bad touch’ tell him/her openly and clearly about it and encourage him/her to open up to you about any misbehavior by anyone.
• DON’T TRUST Anyone when it comes to your child’s safety except yourself and your hubby.
• Don’t let the chacha, mama, taauji, (uncles) bhaiya (cousins) , etc cuddle and show extreme affection with your child. Make any excuse and take your child away from them.
• DON’T ever let your child play in an isolated place with the above-mentioned people!
• Don’t show excess love to your partner in front of your child as she/he starts thinking about it as something very ‘normal’.
• Tell your child about his/her private parts and to maintain privacy while using the washroom.
• Let your child watch cartoons and other stuff made for kids. Discourage them from watching romantic movies.
• Be your child’s strength; keep him/her protected as much as you can in case, unfortunately, your child faces something unwanted, that make him/her feel comfortable and confident and open up to you.
• Try to identify the Paedophiles. They can be anyone around you among your known and trusted persons to any stranger. They are generally very sweet, friendly and nice to kids showering them with love, affection, and gifts very often.
• Don’t let your child play with anyone away from everyone in any part of your house like roof, garden, room, etc.
• Don’t let Anyone take your child out for a walk, for buying snacks, for watching a movie, etc. even if you have full trust in that person.
• Let your child feel free in expressing himself to you- narrating both the pleasant as well as unpleasant experiences to you every day.
• Listen to your inner voice when it comes to the safety of your child. God has given this special power to all the moms- they can sense the danger looming over their kids.
• Observe your child; if he doesn’t want to go with any particular person Don’t force him! Listen and trust your child if he is saying anything.

I wish and pray for all the kids of this world to be safe always. But knowing that this world isn’t actually a safe place for our kids we must ensure we are taking all possible measures to keep our kids safe. Stay alert and give your kids the comfort and understanding that they need in case they suffer some form of abuse. Tell them, ‘it wasn’t their fault’ and that they can always rely on you whenever they need support. Every problem of this universe can be solved with lots of love and compassion.