Children of the World - Child Protection Week relay baton letter
August 24th 2007 by Megan Bayliss in Child Safety & Protection
Dear children of the world,
Imaginif child protection became serious business and we adults all treated you like you were the most valuable resource on earth!
Imaginif we put as much effort into protecting you from harm as we do for protecting our natural environment from rape. Imaginif, you could walk our natural and man made environments with no fear of harm from your fellow humans.
Many of us big people DO care deeply. We care about giving you a safe world, we care about your safety and your right to stay safe. We care that insufficient attention and funding is given to all types of child safety and child protection. We care that there are predators roaming the streets and cyber lanes stalking, grooming and hunting you down.
In communities everywhere there are houses that have adults who do not know what to do. They want to protect you, they want to make the world a better place for you but they are also scared. They may have been hurt as children. They may have witnessed a child being hurt and our adult systems of law, child protection and justice fail that child. They may have become disempowered and confused. They need you to restore their faith in a child friendly world.
Children we need your help. We need you to keep telling us what we have to do to create a world focused on the safety needs of our most important natural resource - YOU. We need you to use your powerful political persuasion, your voice, to inform us of what will work to help you. We need you to tell on those who harm you. They are the law breakers, not you.
I promise you that I will act to make my street a child friendly street. I will smile and say hello to children, I will stick up for them if I see anyone trying to hurt them, I will not be angry at the kids when they kick their ball into my front garden and have to climb the fence to get it back. I will instead say, “Thank goodness the kids in my street can kick the ball around safely.”
I promise you that I will make my cyber lane a child friendly street too by continuing to write about the importance of making child protection serious business. I’m also going to make sure my front yard is decorated with things that say kids welcome here: toys, and signs that we are a safe house for kids to visit. I can’t wait until Christmas time because we already have plans of decorating our house like an Aussie beach with kids having fun, fun, fun.
Thanks for being kids, kids. Thanks for reminding me that life is not all about working and paying bills but rather, taking the time to play, to hang out and to be happy.
Happy Child Protection Week 2007. May your week last the entire year. Imaginif …. child protection became serious business!
Stumble it!
August 24th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Great letter, Megan. I salute you for all the effort you take to make this world a safer place for kids. You really mean it when you say “child protection became serious business.” Keep it up.
August 27th, 2007 at 10:15 am
Thank you Abel.
It’s hard work because children still don’t appear to rate highly on people’s conscious agendas. But…I’ve never been afraid of hard work.
And ditto to you - you also offer a great service over at your site.
September 3rd, 2007 at 4:59 pm
I work at a community centre where I have by virtue of loving and caring for children, become the nurturer and carer of many children, as some mothers are not in the child’s picture, or are struggling with issues and are not the mummys they could and should be at this present time. Last week two of natures little wonder boys were involved in a tragic accident, because their parents did not keep them safe and placed them at great risk. They are both fighting for their lives in hospital and as we are in a rural situation, the hospital is many miles from the rest of their families and friends. I visited both of these children in intensive care, and to see their shattered little bodies tears rips your heart out and realy highlights the sad failure of parents both in keeping their children safe and even more inbelievably placing their precious little lives at great risk.
As this is child protection week, to all parents carers and those responsible for children, children are a precious and special gift, love them, cherish them and do all that you can within your power to keep them safe from harm.
September 3rd, 2007 at 8:32 pm
Oh Cheryl
I am so sorry that those children had to endure that.
Your message is strong - do all that you can within your power to keep them safe.
I hear you call and I answer your challenge. I hope that you and I are not alone in doing all that we can to keep children safe, not only during child protection week, but always.
My thoughts are with you Cheryl. Vicarious traumatisation can have a devastating affect on workers. Please, be sure to look after yourself too this week.
September 6th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Dear Megan, I visited these children yesterday, one (the 6 year old) is doing well, we played connect 4 and he laughed a lot, I took a photo of his other siblings and he hugged the photo and said he missed them, the time I spent with him was truly special, the nurses said that was the happiest they had seen him. I visited that childs father and took him a photo of his children, he cried and inside I cried too, I spent some time with him and reassured him that I and others were taking care of his children, before I left he grabbed my arm and thanked me for caring about his children, how could I not. I then went and visited the 8 year old boy in intensive care, I spoke to him and I saw his arm move, so did the nurse. That night his mother contacted me to say, he blinked, he felt pain and they had taken out some of the tubes, I then cried, I felt a part of something really wonderous. I care for children, these two have been spared and the community I live in will continue to care for them and support whatever family they have in their lives to raise them better. I will take care of me for, for I have to be there for the children who don’t have anyone really there for them, especially when they need them the most.