Creating a Safe Place for Children
When was the last time you felt truly scared? Some children face that experience all the time, but they don’t have to.
Parents and caregivers are responsible for providing a safe place for children to grow up, both physically and emotionally. In our last post, we discussed the importance of physical safety at home and school, but security matters in intangible places too.
Through the Thrive Program, A Child’s Hope Foundation is working to help caregivers create secure places for children to live—a temporary step on their path to a permanent, loving home.
Social and Community Safety
To help children grow up to be resilient and self-reliant, it’s also important for them to know how to interact with the world around them.
- Help children understand how to interact with strangers
- Get to know your children’s friends
- Teach your child about internet safety if they are online
Sometimes, more serious precautions need to be taken.
Last September, the girls and caregivers at a children’s home in Mexico felt unsafe. Men from the local neighborhoods would wander in or around the property. When the girls started refusing to go outside to participate in extracurricular activities, the home leadership knew something had to change.
Using the Thrive Assessment, the staff created a plan, identified a solution, and received the support they needed to install security cameras and fencing on the grounds. A clear sense of security is essential to any child’s upbringing and long-term development, and these girls now feel protected in their community.
Ensuring Emotional Safety: Building Trust and Communication
Just as important as physical safety is emotional safety. In fact, feeling emotionally insecure manifests the same psychological effects as feeling physically threatened. A person who feels unsafe emotionally experiences the “fight or flight” response. Parents and caregivers—especially of vulnerable children—need to create a place where their child feels emotionally protected. They can encourage this in the following ways:
- Support open, non-judgmental communication
- Actively listen and validate children’s emotions
- Create an environment where children feel comfortable expressing fears, worries, or needs
Many children in institutional care struggle with trauma from past experiences. Supportive caregivers and therapists help them work through these feelings to help prepare them for a successful future. Creating that emotionally safe space makes that possible.
A home in Mexico is a great example of creating these safe spaces. Marta, a young girl, started receiving therapy when she was two years old. She came to the children’s home from a very difficult situation and refused to speak at all. She could not live or eat with children her age because she struggled with extreme tantrums and would hit her head against the floor.
Because of funds from donors, Marta could start working with a therapist. She started speaking for the first time since coming to the home. Marta is much more sociable and interacts well with other children. Best of all, she no longer hurts herself. Marta is growing happily and has a bright future ahead.
Your Role Matters More Than You Think
Providing a safe place for children to grow up is a critical responsibility for caregivers and parents. Creating physical and emotional safety wherever children are starts with you. You can’t protect them from everything, but you can create a place where they can fail and make mistakes and have the confidence to grow from them.
Learn more about how the Thrive Program helps improve care for children.