Written By: Accu Mariam John
Artwork by a Helikx student
Disasters can happen at any time, to anyone.
Life can come to a standstill and the trauma that such a situation delivers is unimaginable. Children are mostly affected by situations that they have never encountered in their life. The recent flood in Kerala is a reminder to everyone that nature is not going to pardon the people
who have done enough harm on her. Nobody has ever expected that their houses would be submerged in water and their properties would be washed away. The videos of rivers engulfing children and youngsters were frightening. Landslides washed away several lives including the whole family. Repetitive disasters are a pointer that the coming generation should be well equipped to tackle with any such situation in the future.
‘Safety and Risk Education’ should be made an integral part of the school curriculum.
What is safety and risk education? What is its need?
Safety and risk education is the teaching of specific knowledge, skills and understanding that children need in order to stay safe in a given situation. Generally, schools themselves are safe places for children of all ages, so the focus of safety and risk education is to prepare children and young people for the world outside of school, now and in the future.
Children are mostly affected by injuries. Leading threats to children’s life are bicycle accidents, road accidents, drowning, burns, falls, poisoning, choking and apart from it all contagious diseases. As the age increases risk from injuries seems to be higher. Children like to explore the environment in which they live. This curiosity may tend them to play with match box, taste parent’s or grandparent’s pills, jump into pool or river, ride bicycles or motor cycles unattended. Children are more susceptible to bone injuries because they lack proper physical coordination and cognitive abilities. In car accidents children are more often hurt than the elders as because they may not be properly protected by adult seat belts.
Adolescent age is much more impulsive. They are unable to judge the safety of a situation. They are not worried about the rules of the road, they think that road is their playground and can even disturb a passing by dog. Adolescent children are more prone to quarrel and attack each other. A small clash can even lead to death as they react impulsively. The use of drug and tobacco are also injurious to health.
Children need to be well equipped to tackle any kind of situation that they run into. School is the place where they could study proper safety measures. Safety education should be made a part of curriculum in the lower classes itself, so that when they face an unsafe situation their knowledge may come to help them immediately. Schools should provide extracurricular activities like swimming classes, karate, yoga as well as disaster management classes. These can equip children physically to avoid unsafe situation or escape from such a situation. Disaster management has become a much important area which is unattended in schools. Natural calamities are so common in the current era. How to avoid a disaster or how to tackle with it? These question need to be answered by the coming generation.
Children should also be made aware of emergency first aid which is very important during an accident that they met with or witness. Every class in the school should maintain a first aid box so that children could use and understand the function of each item.
As children are the future citizens of a country, they should be properly equipped to face any challenges that come into their life both physically and mentally.
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