SAFE SPACE: Home Perspective (part 1)

As parents and child caregivers, are you aware of Safe Space and why every child needs it?

A safe space is someone or somewhere you go-to for all your physical and emotional support or balance without the fear of being provoked, harassed, hushed, mocked, disturbed or blamed and you are free to learn, express yourself and be heard without bias or fear.

This means that, when you find your Safe Space, you are expected to feel both physically and mentally safe and free.

You must have heard about or seen people take time off to visit a particular person, people

or place when they need information, comfort, support, attention or answers and they come back feeling better, ready to open up, continue a conversation or apply all they’ve learned.

Do Children Need a Safe Space?

YES, they do! I wonder why many people seem to always forget that children are also humans with emotions and need one form of support or the other to achieve their dreams just like everyone else.

Given the explanation on safe space, you should agree with me that every child also needs a safe space. I know that someone reading this may disagree or find it difficult to comprehend my reason which is why I am writing this to give you a clearer understanding of why every child needs a safe space.

Children can find their safe spaces in the following places:

a. Home

b. School

c. Community

d. Cyberspace

Each of these is important at different times, but the focus of this post is on the home as a child’s safe space.

Home as a Safe Space

The home is the children’s best option for a safe space because they live there and spend long hours with parents, siblings and other extended family members in some cases. However, many parents are not able to make the home a safe space due to their busy schedules or carefree attitude toward the children by bequeathing all their responsibilities to a nanny.

This has continued to lead to more children’s reliance on other people and places as a safe space a situation that calls for urgent attention.

To help you understand the importance of making the home a safe space for the children, I have listed a few of the benefits of a safe space.

A safe space will:

i. Enable children to acquire new skills and increase their understanding of different things.

ii. Give them emotional or mental stability once they can voice their concerns.

iii. Provide them with the opportunity to speak, be heard and be more open.

iv. Make them feel loved and comforted.

v. Provide them with the needed courage to carry on in life.

vi. Make them feel safe and protected.

vii. Better their physical health and general well-being.

viii. Enable them to express and overcome fear and anxiety.

ix. Help prevent possible emergencies or crises.

Apply Caution

As much as children are encouraged to have a safe space, it is important to apply caution and strict monitoring to avoid:

a. Making wrong decisions with dire consequences.

b. Joining a wrong or bad group.

c. Suffering mental breakdown.

d. Engaging in different vices.

Remember

Not all online content is censored or rated thereby giving the children unguided access to content capable of harming them if they are not properly monitored.

Check the next post for the concluding part.