Child safety: Why moms are super!

Keeping children out of harm’s way is but one of the many responsibilities of mothers, but in today’s world probably the most important.

While it is never an easy topic to contemplate, children continue to be the target of criminals for various reasons with social media often their ‘playground’ of choice, said Charnel Hattingh, head of marketing and communications at Fidelity Services Group.

She urged families to keep personal safety top of mind this Mother’s Day, whether at home or out and about.

“Parents should know where their children are at all times. Even if celebrating at home, keep common dangers like a swimming pool or access to household chemicals in mind for younger children. Moms are renowned for having superpowers, like ‘eyes in the back of their head’, which is, in essence, their instinct to sense and shield their children from harm,” Hattingh said.

“Moms are round-the-clock security surveillance for their families. Unfortunately, child predators also like to think they are super smart, using very creative ways to lure children in or the slightest opportunity to kidnap a child. Yes, kidnappings are on the rise in South Africa and human trafficking is prevalent too. Sadly, the days of letting your children play outside, walk to the shops, or visit friends you don’t know unsupervised are over.

“Moms have a huge responsibility when it comes to the safety of their children. One way of ensuring you can beat the bad guys is to be empowered with knowledge. This includes knowing the trends in crimes related to children and keeping up with the latest technology and terminology children use, especially online.”

Hattingh offered these basic tips for moms to help keep their children safe:

• When parking in public places with children in the vehicle, turn the car off and take the keys out. Unless your child is much older (teenage years), don’t leave your child in the car. Even if you are just running into the shop for bread, don’t do it.

• As unreal as it may seem, it has happened that a sleeping child was forgotten in a car. Newer car seats have an alarm that goes off if your child is in the seat when the vehicle is turned off.

• If you are leaving your children at home in someone else’s care to go shopping, know where they are before you start the car. The seemingly impossible is always possible to an extent. It’s not worth the risk.

• Any criminal incident is traumatic, especially for children. To prevent falling victim to a smash and grab, never leave valuables – your phone, handbag, laptop – in plain sight while driving. Ensure the doors are locked and the windows are closed.

• If you leave your children at home in the care of a babysitter or au pair, they must be as security conscious as you are all of the time and know what to do in an emergency. Make sure all remote panic buttons are working and that areas of the home that are not being used are protected through the alarm system and other home security solutions you have in place.

• Remote monitoring of your home and property, while you are out, keeps you informed of everything going on in real time. Consider surveillance camera installation with 24/7 security monitoring.

• Make use of community security services, like WhatsApp groups and your local security provider’s value-added services, like meet and greetings and extra patrols, for added peace of mind.