According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC, the leading cause of death in children aged 14 and below is accidents (unintentional injuries). In the September 2018 edition of 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 (for example, burns, suffocation, poisoning, and falls) occurred in or around the home while others occurred in the community (for example transportation-related injuries, drowning, and sports injuries). These injuries represent a serious burden to the injured person and their family. It represents a tremendous economic and community burden; yet, most are predictable and preventable”.

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.

There have been at least 3 major safety-related injuries and deaths in and from school which social media helped escalate awareness. Don Davis, Keren-Happuch and Sylvester did not deserve this. There are many more cases that are being hidden or manipulated. No child deserves to get injured or die because they sought education. We must do better as a society. For that to happen, all stakeholders must play their part.

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

According to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, one-third of the globe’s youth is bullied; this ranges from as low as 7% in Tajikistan to 74% in Samoa. Wikipedia says, “bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. It is a repeated, aggressive behaviour intended to hurt another individual physically, mentally or emotionally. There is usually a perception of an imbalance of physical or social power.”

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 

According to a UNICEF report on developing countries, every year, 2 million children under the age of 15 experience accidents in and around the home. This is why I believe we must equip our children with basic knowledge on different safety topics. However, we must also ensure the content on each topic is age appropriate.

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

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the Special Safety Report with The Safety Chic. You are ready for 2020, right? Did you create a personal Safety Plan? Safety plan, you might ask. Yes, a personal safety plan is important because what gets planned, gets done.

So I will be sharing with you on how to up your 2020 safety game.

Assessment of 2019

If you have no idea of what has happened before, how will you know how to forge ahead intentionally? Take some time to assess if you had an injury in 2019, got involved in a “minor” safety incident say a knife cut in the kitchen or a major safety incident say your child fell from the stairs or you experienced a fire. Assess the location, was it at home or the workplace. Assess the actors involved, was it you, a child, a colleague, neighbour or a random person you heard about on the news. I believe you are recalling some incidents. What could you have done differently? How could better outcomes be achieved?

Get Safety Training

You must have noticed from the various scenarios that flashed through your mind that someone didn’t make the right decision because they didn’t know better. This is where safety training comes in. Do you need to know how to fight a fire if it starts in the kitchen? Do you need to know how to carry out a risk assessment in your workplace? Do you need to know how to set up a safety system in your school? Do you need to know how administer first aid? As a matter of fact, everyone needs to know how to administer basic first aid. We should no longer hear cases of people dying from choking or people dying because no one on the scene could do CPR. Therefore, add getting a relevant safety training to your 2020 plans. There are aspects I can train you on and there others where I’m happy to recommend other service providers to you.

Invest in serviceable safety equipment

Emphasis here is on serviceable. Many times people buy safety equipment without being conscious of expiration dates or if it’s working appropriately. This is a recipe for disaster if you find out the equipment doesn’t work on the day an emergency happens. Whenever we talk about safety equipment, the first thing that comes to mind to most people is a fire extinguisher. There are other safety equipment. What you will need is largely dependent on the risks you’re exposed to. Therefore, discuss with a safety professional.

Get involved in drills

What you practice gets internalized faster and you will remember in an emergency because you have interacted with the scenario. Recently, during a shooting scare in a foreign country, a girl was able to provide a safe place for her classmates. When her father was interviewed, he mentioned that the children seemed so organised that he thinks they must have done a lot of drills in their schools. Also, I have personally received testimonials from people who took part in practical sessions in our safety training who used their new knowledge to save the lives of complete strangers. Drills make you confident on how to act even in the face of danger.

Become a safety advocate

It is great to know how to act in an emergency but what happens if you are the only one with that knowledge and a safety incident occurs in your absence? The action or inaction of others can affect your own safety. Therefore, you have a role to share knowledge with others and correct them when you see them making an unsafe choice. Do not be afraid to be termed a “busybody” and you keep quiet when you see things going wrong. As you already know, evil thrives when good men and women keep silent

I hope this has been helpful to you? It is not a totally exhaustive list but with these few foundation tips, you would be able to build a great personal safety plan for 2020.

#TheSafetyChic

Intentionally grooming a safety conscious generation

When I saw my mum on the floor at an accident scene in 2013, I screamed and rushed to her. All on my mind was the fact she said she’d be here when I got married and got pregnant, so this was not the plan. While in that state, I also remembered things I was supposed to do as a first aider and that gave me last minute strength and courage. But it was too late, valuable time had passed
In an emergency, time and knowledge is the difference between life and death. Knowledge without time to apply it is death. Time without knowledge of what to do is death. This is why I  am always here sharing safety tips. There is power in having the right information. You may not need it now but trust me, the day you do, it will bubble to the top of every other thing to remind you to act.

So, I teach children what to do and I’ve created education resources for them. I train educators so that they can implement safety  knowledge in their schools to reduce accidents. I teach adults in places of worship, workplaces and residential estates because even adults need to know what to do in different life scenarios
This week, we are in Ghana because the Safety  challenges we have in Nigeria is not applicable to us alone, it’s actually an African problem and I have chosen to do something about it. Would you like to contribute to increasing safety consciousness on this continent?
1) Help us organise an event/training in your state/country

2) Buy safety materials for children in your community, school or place of worship

3) Get an exhibition stand at our upcoming School Safety Summit

4) Sponsor a training event (full or partial sponsorship)

5) Place an advert in our children cartoon

As you can see, there are diverse ways to get involved. If your preferred option is not here, SEND a message, we can tailor something for you.

What is your preferred option? Share this with someone and join us

If you’re on my mailing list or on my Facebook group, The Safety Tribe, kindly check you have a message

Applications are now open for the FREE certified training courtesy our International partners. This is one of the activities for this year’s #SchoolSafetySummit

Application link is on those platforms. Due to limited slots, we’d only take the best applications. However, there will be a paid version of the training if you do not make the FREE slots but still need the “Safety Mastery for Schools: How to build a safe and inclusive school system for children” training.

All the best.

Every year in this country, the number of children abducted from home, school, streets and places of worship keep increasing yet we rely solely on “it’s not my portion”. How far can that keep our children safe in the face of teeming security challenges?

Here is what you can do or advocate for:
1) Empower your child
Teach them that no matter what, only you or an “agreed” adult should pick them always. E.g. if Aunty Bola always picks them from school, they should never go with Uncle Henry if you did not sanction it with them and the caregivers. Teach them what to do when they find themselves in “suspicious” situations (kick, scream and call attention to themselves). Teach them other tactics like saying NO, having a family password, walking in groups or moving away from suspicious vehicles.

2) Child Protection Policy
This must be present in every facility that caters to children e.g places of worship, recreational facilities, child minding facilities etc. A policy is a good first step  because other elements  are built upon it: planning, procedures, training, monitoring and review. How do you plan to keep children in your care safe, have the procedures been created and communicated, what is the minimum qualification of the child minder, are they aware of existing procedure, how is this monitored, what happens if there is a breach, how often is this reviewed? Ideally you would need safety professionals to help you create these however having an idea of this helps you make informed contributions.  When organisations working with children answer these questions correctly, it puts them in a better position to manage situations appropriately.

3) Find out the abduction prevention procedure in your child’s school.
Schools are resuming soon and it is important you know about this. Does it exist? Is it being complied with? Do you think it’s sufficient? What are the possible loopholes an abductor can take advantage of? From your observations, make recommendations. It is not busybody when you are being proactive about your child’s safety. When next you go out  with your child or go to pick your child, assess the access control critically.

While this is about abduction, it doesn’t end  here. What other aspects of your child’s safety can be compromised when they are out of your care? Always speak up about your concerns, it might save their life.