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Don’t leave your children’s lives to chance

Published:Saturday | May 18, 2019 | 12:17 AM

Open letter to all parents:

THE EDITOR, Sir:

In a perfect world, our children could go out without our protection and they’ll be just fine. But such a world doesn’t exist. We know what’s out there. Danger lurks in our own communities. It is not a safe world. Your communities aren’t safe. There are even perpetrators in our own families. It is our greatest duty to protect our children.

Don’t leave your children’s lives to chance. Don’t send them to school simply on prayers. Do your part. Take them to school. If you can’t do that, walk with them to the bus stop, or ensure that they walk with parents you do know. Know the taxis or vehicles you put them in. Ensure that you know the plate numbers and have information on the drivers. Don’t send them alone. And if you are ever in doubt, TRUST your instincts. It might seem silly or illogical, but trust them. Your children’s safety should be your greatest priority.

You can also use technology to help protect your kids. There are tracking apps you can put on phones. That way you’ll know where your children are. Know the numbers for teachers, schools, so you can check that your child arrived. Don’t send them to places you are unsure of. Leave guesswork out of it. Your children depend on you. As parents, we need to stop failing them.

For rural areas, maybe community members can come together and do some fundraising for a bus. That bus can be used to transport children in far areas to and from school. It would be awesome if the Government put more buses on the road, especially in rural areas. But we can’t wait or depend on the Government to protect our children.

Change starts now. No more rapes, murders, and kidnappings that can be prevented. We have to do everything, and more, to ensure that our children are safe. Many of us haven’t been doing our best to safeguard our children.

Also, be that neighbour that looks out for your neighbour’s children. It used to be a village. Now, look at us. We call our children “vagabonds” and leave them out there in the cold, forgetting that we were once in their shoes and needed others to look out for us.

DEIDRA LOVELACE

deidralovelace@gmail.com