As South Africa marks Child Protection Week, the conversation around keeping children safe cannot be limited to policies, awareness campaigns or moments of crisis. For safeguarding to be effective, it must become part of everyday life in schools, homes and communities.
Children are most likely to thrive when emotional safety, trust and support are built into their daily environments.
Tshegofatso Komape, child protection officer at SPARK Schools, says that protecting scholars requires active collaboration between educators, parents, caregivers, social workers, community organisations and every adult responsible for a child’s physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.
She shares six practical ways in which adults can build safer spaces for children:
1. Make safety part of everyday conversations
Children are more likely to speak up when they feel safe to do so. Schools and families should create regular opportunities for scholars to talk openly about friendships, emotions, online experiences and challenges they may be facing. Scholars need trusted adults who actively listen without immediately judging or dismissing concerns.
2. Learn the warning signs
Children do not always tell adults when they are struggling emotionally, or experiencing abuse or bullying. But, they can be subconsciously communicating through their behaviour, and adults need to pay attention when a child’s behaviour changes significantly.
The warning signs to look out for include becoming withdrawn, aggressive or anxious, declining academic or sporting performance, frequent unexplained illness, changes in sleep or eating patterns, reluctance to attend school, outbursts or unusual silence.
3. Take bullying seriously
Social media and online gaming environments have become spaces where children are experiencing humiliation and exclusion. Schools and parents should discuss online harassment and cruelty openly with scholars, and children should know where and how to report bullying safely.
Komape says it is equally important to recognise that scholars engaging in bullying behaviour may be struggling with violence, trauma or harmful influences in their own environments, and are in just as much need of intervention. Addressing bullying therefore requires accountability, guidance, emotional support and education for everyone.
4. Provide assistance and guidance
Scholars must feel empowered to act when concerns arise, and they need safe and accessible ways to seek help. This may include trusted teachers, counsellors, social workers or family or community members. It is important that these adults listen, take children’s concerns seriously and respond appropriately.
At the same time, Komape believes adults need practical guidance on recognising abuse, neglect, emotional distress and bullying. She also feels it is a school’s responsibility to help parents with ‘positive discipline’ and emotional regulation so they can manage modern parenting pressures more easily.
5. Model healthy relationships and behaviour
Children learn as much from what adults do as from what they say. Adults can help create safer environments by modelling respect, empathy, healthy boundaries and constructive conflict resolution in their daily interactions. When children see adults listening, communicating calmly and treating others with dignity, they gain a stronger understanding of how healthy relationships should look and feel.
6. Strengthen partnerships
Child protection works best when schools, families, healthcare professionals, social workers and law enforcement work together. Schools are often the first place where signs of distress are noticed, but effective intervention depends on collaboration between all the adults responsible for the wellbeing of children.
“Creating safer environments for children is ultimately about more than preventing harm. It is about building communities where scholars feel protected, respected and confident that the adults around them will act in their best interests,” ends Komape.
