Our world and nation are at a very trying period. It seems the fabrics of our world as we know it today will soon come crashing down right before us. Both young and old are endangered but the impact of all the unpleasant happenings in our world is more visible on children and teenagers. Do you know why? Children and teenagers are limited in their capacity to cope with unpleasant experiences; thus they deserve the best of protection.
UnitedNations Report on Violence against Children submits that never in the history of our world has the children been under the kind of siege and abuse they are today. This is a very disturbing submission from the United Nation. The United Nations Survey exposes a shocking picture of physical, emotional, sexual abuses, neglect and mistreatment of children every corner of the countries of the world. The survey declares, ‘while abuse may be at its worst in the developing world, no country is guiltless.’
Do you know that children and teenagers are not abused by strangers in most cases? They abused by those who are closest to them like parents, teachers, uncles aunties and the likes.
While it is universally accepted that children and teenagers are to be protected by the family, community, state and international community, we often forget that children and teenagers are part of the family.
Therefore children and teenagers have a role to play in protecting themselves (and in some cases their younger ones) from all forms of abuses outlined above.
I think, there are basic questions we must ask and answer as we begin this important discussion, which is aimed at empowering you as a teenager to participate actively in your own safety and self-protection. The first is what is personal safety? The second is what is self-protection? The third is how do you identify your roles in your personal safety and self-protection?
Safety refers to the condition of being protected from or unlikely to cause danger, risk, or injury. The truth of the matter is that as long as we live, there will always be danger and risks. It is our responsibility to ensure that we are fully aware of the foregoing as a fact of life and we protect ourselves.
You see, the word, safety does not make sense until there is a deliberate effort to be protected by yourself or others. In this case we are talking about personal safety and self-protection. Personal safety is your goal and self-protection is the means. It therefore means that if you are interested in personal safety, you must be ready to use self-protection to achieve same.
I am signing out. I will be with you next week. Before then, Please note that I am available for interaction on this platform. Do have an INSPIRED week. Stay SMART!
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