Child Safety Week is an annual community education campaign run by Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) in the UK. It is a brilliant initiative that should be done everywhere. For 2021, it will hold between 7th – 13th June. The theme for 2021 is, “Share because you care”. This is so apt. If every adult committed to sharing child safety tips with the child or adults who have children in their care, it would go a long way to reduce avoidable accidents affecting children.

Activities are a great way to make the children a part of the process and to internalise their learning. Here are some activity ideas for you. They can be implemented by both teachers and parents.

1) Drama presentation 

2) Debates 

3) Book reading sessions 

4) Poetry recitation 

5) Short speaking presentation

How can this be implemented?

As a class teacher, 

1) Pick a topic, teach on it and give them a group task that can be presented to the class

2) Teach a single tip on any area of child safety each day

3) Give an assignment that causes them to research, learn and share their findings with you

As a school owner,

1) Every day throughout child safety week, a safety topic should be taught during assembly

2) Each class can be assigned to prepare a presentation on different topics. Presentations will be made at a communal school event so that everyone learns something new from other classes

3) Invite a safety professional 

As a parent, you do not have to wait for the school. Consider the following:

1) Having a conversation with your child

2) Playing a safety game (check out our Safety CheckUp game)

3) Reading a child safety story book with your child (check out our child safety story book series)

4) Giving your children a project on a safety topic and asking them to present to the family during a family bonding time

Things to note

1) You do not have to break the bank. Keep it simple and fun

2) You do not have to do everything. If all you do is one of the points, it’s better than doing nothing

3) There are many points not mentioned here because this is just a guide to get your creative juices flowing

We share because we care. We share because it breaks the cycle of ignorance. We share because an empowered child can act right in an unsafe situation.

Plan to do something for Child Safety Week 2021. Remember, don’t speak “at” the children instead involve them in the process so that they can internalise the knowledge. You must always seek ways to share safety knowledge with children.

Share with others.

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.