Missing Children SA urges extra care for children this festive season
The festive season is normally a time where we see an increase in children getting lost or missing. Minors may be separated from their family or friends, due to crowded venues, such as shopping malls and at beaches.
Speaking on Bush Radio’s Sakhsizwe programme on
Tuesday, Missing Children South Africa’s National Coordinator, Bianca van
Aswegen, provides tips on child safety, especially with it being school
holidays and children having fun in the sun
‘’So this time of the year, we do see an
increasing number of children maybe getting lost or children going missing.
It's a busy time of the year, our shopping centers are busy, our beaches are
busy, and a lot of children don't have supervision due to parents still being
at work for instance. So there's a lot of safety measures that can be put in
place to keep our children safe, and safety for our children is absolutely
priority over this festive season.’’
‘’So for instance, if you do take your children
with you to the shopping centers or down to the beaches, please make sure that
you've got an eye on them at all times, especially our young children. Dress
them in brightly coloured clothes so they easily spotted in the crowd of
people. For our parents that are still currently working, please ensure that
you leave your children with someone that we are that is trustworthy. There's a
lot of community centers and churches that have holiday safety programs or
holiday programs with children that need to be supervised. Please look into
something like that, and do not leave your children by themselves or let them
play by themselves outside,’’ added van Aswegen.
LOGO OF MCSAVan Aswegen reminded the public that children presumed
missing should be reported immediately.
‘’People still tend to believe that they have
to wait 24 hours. That does not exist at all, and we would really like people
to understand this concept. The longer you wait, the critical escape, and we
cannot do a search in that immediate area right away,’’ stressed Bianca van Aswegen,
Missing Children South Africa’s National Coordinator.
‘’So it's really critical to get that case
opened immediately so action can be taken. Within the first 24 hours to 48
hours is what we call our golden hours, especially when a child goes missing.
We've seen a lot of human trafficking cases, a lot of kidnapping cases
happening, And if something like that had to happen and you had to wait 24
hours, the child could be anywhere in the world by then. So please report it
immediately so action can be taken,’’ she added.
Growing up, one is being taught about “stranger
danger.” - not to talk to strangers and to be wary of people you don’t know who
might try to lure you away and harm you. These days, however, there has been an
increase in children going missing, from people you know.
‘’’There is still stranger danger that we do
need to warn our children about, but unfortunately, we've seen an increasing
number of these perpetrators actually being people known to the child. So it
might be a family member, it might be a family friend, or someone within the
community, so there's always red flags to look out for when we look at these
types of people. If a child does come to you as a parent and tell you that they
do feel uncomfortable with a certain person or there's inappropriate comments
being made or inappropriate touching taking place, please take action. We haveve
seen this. It's happening, and we cannot look past it anymore. So we have to
implement safety within our children; We need to educate them and also tell
them to please speak out if something is wrong. And please, parents and
guardians, listen to the children. It could really save their life,’’ said van
Aswegen.
In an increasingly digital world, it's more
important than ever for parents to monitor their children's online activity and
educate them on the dangers of the internet. Van Aswegen warns that online
predators often attempt to engage children and teens in inappropriate
conversations, arrange in-person meetings, or even send explicit materials
while requesting images in return.
‘’Social media, as much as it helps us as an
organization, to get our flyers out there, to spread the word of a child that's
missing, it poses such a danger to our children. We have got people, predators
on social media grooming our children, and it's just such a bad platform for
our children to be on, and that's actually where the age restriction of social
media comes into play. So as a parent, if you do allow your child to be on
social media, please make sure that the settings the privacy settings are set
correctly. Please monitor your children's social media use. Who's the framing
name? What is being sent on social media? What messages are being sent? It is
just so important that we as parents and guardians also have the responsibility
to keep our children safe on social media where we as parents also tend to want
to post photos of our children, we tag locations, and that also gives the
creditors access to our children. So make sure that you do not post any photos,
do not tag any locations, especially in front of the motor vehicle for instance
with the registration number of your child, especially when we come back into
the new year with, our grade ones and school uniforms. It's there's a lot of
safety measures that can be taken to make sure that our social media is safe
for our children.’’
‘’And I think it is just being human and
wanting to do something, not thinking about what could actually happen because
that's something that we don't want to have. We don't think it will ever happen
to us, or we don't want to think of the dangers, but, unfortunately, this is
something that we need to think about. We need to take action against it,’’
added van Aswegen.
She advised parents to not let their children
go to playgrounds by themselves.
‘’If the children do go out, especially our
teenagers, always stay in a group of friends. Never go anywhere by yourself. We
call it the buddy system, but also our younger children, especially when school
starts again, please implement a family exclusive password, but if you need to
send someone to pick up your child from school, for instance, or maybe from
aftercare, or from a school sport, and that child has been the right to ask
that person that exclusive password. If they don't know it, they may know the
child, the parents did not see in that person to pick them up.
To find out more about the NPO, contact 072 647
7464. Alternatively email info@missingchildren.org.za
Done By: Mitchum George
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