'Oh, Parents! Keep your child safe' - The savior you have been searching for

(MENAFN- MH Media) Arise in the reported number of sexual abuse cases and harassment issues have riled up the nation’s conscience, and in many ways, Bangladesh is finally waking up to a harsh reality it could have avoided. Reeling from the effects of turning into a society where a lack of understanding of such incidents is turning it into dangerous terrain for the youth, there are some who are trying to educate the young, en masse such as Mehdi Hasan Maruf with his new book, 'Oh, Parents! Keep your child safe.'

Created as Bangladesh’s premier book for children on the concept of body safety, the guide brings forward a topic that many have chosen to turn a blind eye towards. Proving that it is the need-of-the-hour, the book comes at a time when the young need to understand these concepts the most – which could potentially be saviors for them in grave situations.

Divided amongst chapters and written in simple English, the guide actually plays on the idea of the Islamic view – giving it relevance amongst a target audience that could easily understand the meaning behind the whole scenario. The colorful images and text too, play with a similar idea and help bring forward a better understanding of what each chapter tries to explain. Additionally, the book has also gone through a rigorous process, where it has been reviewed by Islamic scholar such as Mufty Abdullah Al Mamun who himself works with child and adolescent psychology.

Ranging from different ‘rules’, the guide covers a variety of topics such as body parts are not for sharing – to help children understand the boundaries that need to be created between them and adults, and even a rule that helps them understand a body bubble and the concept of safe and unsafe touch.

The guide goes on to explain a variety of different scenarios as well. In one of the rules, the book thoroughly provides step methods to help protect oneself, such as using our voices to shout no, using our ‘superpower’ to run away from that person to a ‘safe place’, and using our brave superpower (words) to tell an adult that we trust. Similarly, it also helps build the concept of a safety circle amongst children by helping them understand how they can create a web of protection around them, which may include immediate family members.

What is interesting however is that the book also helps children understand situations that more often than not, are deemed unimportant or too small to discuss. Thus, this gives the guide an upper hand on its capability of helping us understand the intricacies of things that can possibly make a huge difference – such as perhaps the difference between surprise and a secret. Explaining that a surprise could be something that could be happy or fun such as a surprise birthday party, secrets could be something that is unsafe, wrong, or uncomfortable – which may lean towards predatory behavior against the child.

There are many such rules explained further in the book, which all could be considered highly important for a child growing up in an age where such awareness can be brought to them without social stigmas and taboos which have mired the process in the past. Truly, Mehdi Hasan Maruf’s mission to create such a book has paved a way for many to start a dialogue in the right direction for the sake of their children’s future.

After all, it is not a reality that we are unaware of: just in Bangladesh alone, there are 12 cases of abuse against children reported every day. This has gone on to see an increase over the last year in the pandemic, where statistics have shown that there was a 4 percent rise in such cases taking the chilling number to a brutal high.

If such cruel numbers –which go into the thousands each year – aren’t enough to help us bring some light to a grave situation, then we won’t have enough time in the future to save a generation with whom there’s still a chance to bring change with. Thus, when a book like 'Oh, Parents! Keep your child safe' comes forward, there should be nothing but support to make it common knowledge that could be spread amongst the masses.

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