Tickling is a game often played with children, but it can make them feel helpless and out of control. Due to their inability to communicate or breathe properly while being tickled, children may be unable to ask you to stop. Their laughter, which may be mistaken as encouragement, does not necessarily mean they are having fun. Tickling, despite good intentions, can potentially harm a child and should be carefully considered. Tickling may elicit laughter quickly, but it doesn’t guarantee that your child is enjoying it. They may laugh and appear joyful because they can’t control themselves or express their discomfort. Tickling can have lasting effects on children, and they may not associate it with playfulness or a happy experience.

Insights from Research and Historical Perspectives
Tickling has a historical association with torture. For instance, during China’s Han Dynasty, tickling was used as a method of tormenting nobility due to its lack of visible marks and relatively quick recovery for the victim. In Japan, a specific term, “kusuguri-zeme,” meaning “merciless tickling,” was even coined for it. Research conducted by Vernon R. Wiehe from the University of Kentucky involved studying
150 adults who experienced sibling abuse during their childhoods. Many of the participants described tickling as a form of physical abuse. The study concluded that tickling can trigger severe physiological reactions, such as vomiting and loss of consciousness, due to the victim’s inability to breathe.

Patty Wipfler, a parenting expert and founder/director of the Hand in Hand organization, asserts that tickling during childhood is often a cause of emotional challenges that can persist into adulthood. She states, “In my many years of listening to adults talk about the emotional challenges of their lives as children, tickling comes up again and again as an experience that has been hurtful.” The resulting trauma may lead affected individuals to struggle with relaxation when others are nearby, feel insecure even when sleeping next to a trusted partner, and remain internally guarded during any non-casual physical contact with loved ones.
Here are a few reasons why assuming your child likes being tickled may be
problematic:

1. Involuntary laughter: Children may giggle helplessly, even if they dislike being tickled. They cannot control their laughter, and it is not the same as laughing at a funny joke.
2. Potential humiliation: Tickling can cause a loss of self-control, preventing children from expressing their desires or regaining control. This lack of agency can be humiliating for them, despite your good intentions.
3. Medical complications: Continuous tickling can lead to uncontrollable laughter, difficulty speaking, and breathing problems for children. In severe cases, they may even lose consciousness. As they cannot communicate their distress, you may not realize they are in trouble.
4. Trust issues: Tickling a child against their will, especially if they dislike it, can create long-lasting trust issues. They may associate tickling with physical abuse as they grow older, develop mistrust towards physical contact, and avoid crowded places due to fear of being touched.

The “Dos” of tickling:

1. Stop when they say “no” or “stop it” or if they push you away.
2. Ask for their consent beforehand, using phrases like “here come the tickles,” and
   only proceed if they respond positively.
3. Tickle them lightly without applying excessive pressure.

Reference: Momjunction
Further reference: Momjunction Brightside

1. We started out in January working on the game app idea courtesy of the Tony Elumelu Foundation and Women Entrepreneurship for Africa accelerator partnership.
2. Some of our parents joined the safety advocacy campaign by sharing their #ChildSafetyExperience in short videos on Instagram.
3. We worked with the Safe Schools Movement, Ford Foundation, and other stakeholders to step down safety training for stakeholders in Abuja so they could take it to schools in their community.

4. The IOSH Magazine featured our insights among other female safety professionals worldwide for the International Women’s Day edition on “Break The Bias.”

5. We held the sixth edition of the annual School Safety Summit with the theme “Child Safety: Incorporating a Systematic Safety Education”. We thank our Keynote speaker, Dr. Ulrike Bollman, the DG of Lagos Safety Commission, Mr. Lanre Mojola, and our panelists: Dr. Bisi Esuruoso, Rotimi Eyitayo, Alpha Djalon, Abiola Sanusi and Abdoulaye Diallo. You can read the REPORT.

6. We launched our child safety game app, The Adventures of Muna, on android and iOS amidst many challenges. We believe this will be helpful to so many children hence the push despite all. Feel free to download it for your device.

7. In partnership with our nonprofit, UGIP Foundation and Dolly Children Foundation, we implemented a pilot program on safety education in the Magboro community. The results of the Research and a Video summary are available online.

8. We also released our child safety storybook in a special edition 3-in-1 version. Now, you get all 3 books in one location. It is available on Amazon if you are outside Nigeria and on the Website if you are in Nigeria.

9. We were invited by the Directorate General of Occupational Safety and Health (DGOSH) of the Republic of Türkiye in collaboration with ENETOSH to contribute to strategies for mainstreaming OSH into Education. The report is available online.

10. We were invited to contribute our insights at the International Product Safety Week hosted by the European Commission and UNCTAD. You can read about it here.

11. We spoke at many other safety education events to train children, teenagers, parents, and educators on safety.

During the three-day event, professionals from global institutions, private sectors, academia, and civil service organizations shared concerns, data, and best practices across child safety, product safety, e-commerce, online market surveillance boosting safety consciousness, social media strategy, gender lens product design, and legislation. For more details, here is a recap of Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, the young Ambassadors workshop, and a report from UNCTAD.

Image Credit: Simon Pugh Photography

The Keynote Speaker at the Summit, Dr Ulrike Bollman, Head of International Cooperation, DGUV, Germany shared the strategic plan of the European Network of Education and Training in Occupational Health and Safety (ENETOSH) toward achieving the aim of integrating safety education for children. Dr. Bollman highlighted three fields of action for making safety an integral part of schools: school development, teaching development, and organizational development. She concluded her session with six factors and three principles for a strategic approach. The six factors are language, goals, cooperation, multi-level approach, participation, and resources. Competence Orientation, School Development Approach, and Holistic Prevention are the three principles upon which strategic implementation of safety should be done in schools.

The Summit featured an enlightened panel session with speakers such as Rotimi Eyitayo, Dr Abdoulaye Diallo, Abiola Sanusi, Dr Bisi Esuruoso, and Alpha Djalon. The panelists shared very practical tips and resources with the audience such as the National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence Free Schools and  Minimum Standards of Safe Schools.

See pictures from the Summit.

With such statistics, why are we not passing on safety education to children in a more systematic manner? You might say that accidents are “accidents”, they are not preventable. Or you might say, “but we are doing something about it, there are existing policies, strategies, and child injury prevention programs”. First, accidents can be prevented. Second, policies, strategies, and programs are not enough if they cannot be integrated into the normal daily life of children. If we do not take intentional and systematic steps to incorporate safety education into the daily life of children, the number of children involved in these “accidents” will keep rising. But we can stem this tide by including safety education in and outside the classroom.

In my opinion, safety education is the deliberate and intentional dissemination of safety knowledge in a way the selected target audience will understand. This ensures that the audience is empowered to make better safety choices in different scenarios that may arise. Every school day across the country, children are learning an aspect of English and Mathematics. What if they also learned an aspect of safety at least once a week considering that this is something that has the potential to save their life? For example, if fire safety is taught this week, road safety follows next, bullying prevention and other safety topics are spread out across the entire academic term, the children will learn in a more intentional manner. Imagine safety education topics adapted to the age and class of the child across their entire academic journey, wouldn’t that be a child empowered to prevent accidents?

A practical example is a story of Chloe Woods reported in 2016 by the Washington Post She helped her blind grandmother escape from a burning house. She knew what to do because in her words, “that’s what they taught us”. According to the story, her class had visited a fire station. Just imagine if such trips were not just one-off but a part of a comprehensive child safety education curriculum all children go through in school. Note again that for her age and class, a field trip was more appropriate. When teaching children about safety, it is important to state that the complexity of the safety topic chosen must take their age into consideration. For example, when I visit primary schools in Nigeria and Ghana to teach about child safety, I just use my child safety storybook because safety concepts have been storified to foster understanding. On the other hand, when I visit to teach teenagers in high school, I use a different method because they are older and can grasp some other concepts better. All children in school need to experience a systematic method of learning how to stay safe throughout their academic journey and not just as a temporary program.

Outside the classroom, safety education can be incorporated through movies, games, cartoons, and even family bonding moments. One might say, let fun times be devoid of training for relaxation purposes. But entertainment methods are a great way to integrate important information in a way that is rarely forgotten. In 2017, Jacob O’Connor pulled out his younger brother who had fallen into the family swimming pool, and went on to administer CPR. When asked how he knew what to do, he said, “I saw it in a movie”. I am certain that when Dwayne Johnson, The Rock was acting that scene in the movie, San Andreas, he never knew it would equip a boy with the lifesaving skill to save his brother. This right here is the power of entertainment methods to etch safety education in the minds of our children outside the classroom. In my work in raising safety consciousness in Africa, I have seen how movies, games, cartoons, and family bonding moments make safety knowledge memorable to children. Every parent should use this hack. A quick tip for parents who want to incorporate this, pick a topic on safety and teach it to your children during your weekly family bonding moments. Make it fun, make it easy and they will never forget. The day they find themselves in a safety scenario, they will make the safe choice.

Are children not too young for this? No, they are not. Chloe Woods was 5 and Jacob O’Connor was 10 but when a situation came up, they sprang to action because they had been empowered. No matter how much we love our children, we may not be with them all day for a variety of reasons. However, if we equip them, they can act, and this will reduce the statistics of children dying due to unintentional injuries.
Let’s intentionally build a safety conscious generation.

If your child complains to you and you’re not listening or you ask them to endure, you are part of the problem.

As a teacher, if you see children being mean to another child and you turn away, you are part of the problem.

As a school owner, if you do not take action when a child goes out of line because the parents are rich, you are a part of the problem.

As a family member, if you see children ganging up against another child and you mind your business, you are part of the problem.

If justice is trying to be served and you are distorting information or frustrating the parents, you are part of the problem.

STOP IT!

Sylvester’s death has led to an outcry across all segments of society. This was totally preventable. We cannot continue to be a reactive society. Children do not need to die or get injured before we realize that their safety is critical. This case must be transparently treated and we must ALL work towards preventing a re-occurrence.

According to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, an estimated 644,855 children under the age of 15 were killed by an injury and between 10 million and 30 million more suffered a non-fatal injury. A large proportion of these unintentional injuries occurred in or around the home while others occurred in the community.

You have a role

1. Parents: You are the primary caregiver of your child. Your child should be able to tell you ANYTHING about their experiences without fear. Build a loving relationship with them so this can happen. When they confide, please TAKE ACTION because it builds their confidence in you. Stop shutting them up or using words like “man up”
2. Family/Extended Family: Be observant. If you notice a child is not getting the care from their parents, care. There have been cases of children confiding in their grandparents on the abuse they face. This can only happen if they know the person cares. So, care. Observe, ask questions, support.
3. Teacher: You are a major influence in a child’s life. Use your influence positively. Do not be a part of the problem with abusive words, aggressive character and “funny” undertones. Don’t be nonchalant when you observe anything that compromises a child’s safety.  You might be their last hope of getting a “safe” adult’s attention.
4. School administrator /Owner: What is the overall culture in your school? Children’s development is not just about academics. Are they physically and emotionally safe? How do you ensure that? Do you have a proactive and reactive method of addressing safety concerns? No child deserves to die or get injured because they came to school. You must be seen to give a fair judgment regardless of socioeconomic status.
5. Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA): This is not an association to show off or gang up against the school. It is an opportunity to get involved in the well-being of children. Use your expertise to make life better for children who may not have anyone to speak for them. If you say it’s not your business because your child is fine, what happens when another child without scruples goes after yours? Get involved. Speak up.
6. Government: No child on your watch should die. If they do for any reason, you must use your FULL authority to get to the bottom of it. No hidden agendas because the child is the important party to be protected.

The media, places of worship, childcare services providers and YOU must use your voice. Call out bad behaviour in children when you see it and build them to make better choices. Do not be an enabler of bad behaviour.

Over the years, we have spoken and trained on the importance of equipping children and having the systems to protect them. We will continue. But we ALL need to rise up and play our roles too. ALL hands must be on deck.

A child should be confident that they are protected and will not die because adults did not have the courage to do the right thing.

#TheSafetyChic

Intentionally building a safety conscious generation

How can you differentiate bullying from other aggressive behaviour?

Bullying features the following:

1) Hostile intent

2) Imbalance of power 

3) Repetition over a period of time

Types of bullying 

1) Physical: hurts someone’s body or damages their property 

2) Verbal: uses voice and words to hurt others 

3) Relational: uses relationships to hurt others. This is common among young people especially girls. Social exclusion and making others feel left out is one way a bully dominates others

4) Cyberbullying: uses technology to harass, embarrass or threaten others

Some signs your child is being bullied

1) Reluctance to go to certain places

2) Fear of school

3) Loss of appetite

4) Sadness

5) Withdrawal from others and spending more time with family and friends 

Effects of bullying 

1) Low self-esteem 

2) Loneliness 

3) Depression which might sometimes lead to suicide

4) Anxiety 

5) Susceptibility to illness

How to respond to bullying 

1) Encourage children to speak up when they experience it

2) When children speak up, do not ignore it or underestimate it because if it is not addressed, it will continue

3) Teach children not to be bystanders when another child is being bullied.

4) Parents and teachers must create an environment where bullying cannot continue

How to reinforce a no-bullying stance

For parents and teachers 

a) Teach through songs, stories, games etc.

b) Reward good behaviour and punish bad behaviour 

For school management 

a) Have an anti-bullying policy

b) Take action when rules are broken

c) Organise anti-bullying days or weeks as part of school activities

You have a role to play in child safety. Empower the child. Share your knowledge with other parents and teachers.

#TheSafetyChic 

Intentionally grooming a safety conscious generation 

How can you do this?
Every week, during what I famously call a “family safety meeting”, introduce one safety topic. This “meeting” can happen during a regular bonding time that happens between parents and children. The atmosphere of fun and relaxation is a great time to teach about these life-saving topics without sounding too formal.

What topics should you cover?
1) Child Sexual Abuse
This is important because your child can be abused by adults and even other children.

2) Bullying/Cyberbullying
This keeps showing up everywhere. Teach them what to do before and when they encounter/experience this.

3) Fire safety
We have lost children to fire because they were not sure on how to act in a smoke-filled building.

4) Slips, Trips and Falls
Falls are so common and often taken for granted. Teach the basic tips to avoid it. As little as paying more attention and reducing distraction goes a long way.

5) Online Safety
With the rise in online threats and use of online methods for education and entertainment, children should be informed.

6) Substance Abuse
This is an epidemic among a section of our young people. Teach them how this can show up, how to avoid peer pressure and how to stay safe.

7) Preventing abduction
Don’t take this for granted. Empower them with simple tips that can shield them from perpetrators.

8) Road safety
We still have children taking risks on the roads. Due to their age, they may not be able to accurately gauge the speed at which a vehicle can get to them. Teach them to avoid risky behaviour

9) First aid
The age of the child determines what you can teach here. Don’t say, “God forbid”, anything can happen anywhere and any time.

10) Electrical safety
This deserves separate mention because many adults display unsafe behaviour around electrical sources. Children model what they see, so you must teach and ACT right.

Is this an exhaustive list?
No. In the coming weeks, I’d expound on these topics and add more.

Isn’t this too much for children?
Technically, no. Our children should be in a safe world but when we cannot vouch for certain things, it’s best to equip them before something bad happens. Giving it to them in small bits over a period of time will not be overwhelming.

It’s better to have the knowledge and not need it than need it and not have it.

Will you be an ambassador for child safety and share this with your network?

#TheSafetyChic
Intentionally grooming a safety conscious generation

1) Unlimited ventilation: this ensures quick dispersal of aerosols before it reaches another athlete’s mask.

2) Ultraviolet radiation from natural sunlight: Without sunlight, it can take more than four hours for 90 percent of the novel coronavirus to inactivate. Outdoors in the sunlight typical of early fall and late winter? Nineteen minutes. In the summer sun, just eight minutes.

Does this mean indoor sports should be totally exempted? NO!

Some considerations for safe sports in schools:  

1) As much as possible, choose to have sports outdoor.

2) Use masks for close contact sports.

3) Use sanitizer before and after sports.

4) For close contact indoor sports, minimize the numbers on the court and ensure appropriate ventilation.

Sports is important for the physical and mental well-being of children. As long as safety precautions are taken, it is safe. Would you allow your students to engage in sports?

Share with others.

a) Healthy classrooms: safe practices in the classroom

b) Healthy buildings: breathing clean air in the school building

c) Healthy policies: building a culture of health, safety and shared responsibility

d) Healthy schedules: moving between rooms and locations safely

e) Healthy activities: enjoying modified activities e.g physical education, sports

Here are four tips to improve air quality in your school to ensure “Healthy buildings”.

1) Increase outdoor air ventilation: You absolutely need air changes every 4 – 6 air changes per hour. This is achievable for almost every school, especially low-income ones.

2) Increase filter efficiency: Where indoor air is being re-circulated, improve filtration. Aim for MERV (minimum efficiency reporting value) filters. It captures about 80% of the particle sizes we are interested in.

3) Supplement with portable air cleaners: Use portable air cleaners with a HEPA filter. Check that the clean air delivery rate is over 300. Remember you are trying to get 4 – 6 air changes per hour.

4) Verify ventilation and filtration performance: Ensure you get professionals to check in with you periodically most especially if you are re-circulating indoor air.

The major tip to ensuring safety in these times is STRICT COMPLIANCE of all stakeholders in the school system – parents, teachers, students and other staff. Half-hearted compliance is not helpful. Therefore, a well-developed monitoring system is important because it helps you identify the negative trends that can cause problems. The foundation of compliance is adequate initial training and sensitization. You can boost safety compliance in your schools with the following tips:

1. Identify the likely barrier to compliance and proffer a solution. E.g. when face masks were introduced, to solve the problem of cost and inadequate quantity, we were advised to use cloth masks too. Look around the compliance issue and proffer a workable and effective solution.
2. Reinforce safety messaging. You cannot just say it once and that’s the end. You have got to keep using creative methods to remind people to comply e.g. safety posters, student and teacher monitors so that they take ownership of the process. Our Safety CheckUp game is also a great tool, get it HERE
3. An easy way to boost compliance is by pairing the desired safety action you want to see with a normal everyday activity. For example, you can advise your parents to pair the action of the students picking their school bags to leave home with putting on their masks. That way the child begins to associate the process of leaving the house with school bag and mask use.
4. Model good behaviour. We cannot run away from this. If you want people around you to do the right thing, start with yourself. If everyone from the school leader down to the teachers are doing the right thing, it will be easier to enforce compliance with the students and non-teaching staff.
5. Have a system for rewards and penalties which must be communicated to all stakeholders. Your stakeholders are your parents, students, teaching and non-teaching staff, visitors. Remember, a weak link can mess up your safety system.