Wednesday, December 25, 2024

Keep an extra eye on children this Festive season, urge Missing Children SA

THIS BLOG WAS TAKEN FROM BUSH RADIO'S SAKHISIZWE BLOG POST

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 Sakhisizwe 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.

 

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Van 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

Listen to the full interview HERE

 

Done By: Mitchum George

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