We were travelling, during the trip
One stranger squeezed one child’s hand while passing by
Few people on bike came and asked questions to a group of kids
Kids traveling in an auto and the action of the driver felt unsafe
Some of these incidences left kids feeling “unsafe, scared and worried”.
Most of them ‘did not reach out to the help nearby’, either they ignored (this did not help) or just stayed with their fear (developed more fear), or passed the fear to others (narrating the incidents again).
Finally they took the help of known adults (they reached out to us for help).
The options available to us –
to sympathize with children
Or to worry that the ‘world is not safe’
Or to get more fearful and worried about the safety of kids
Or to EMPOWER them to be able to take safety in their hands
After listening for few hours about their fear, about the incident …we talked about “what were the other options?”
After discussion we reached out to the other people in the place (hotel management, restaurant owner) and shared about the various incidents and the first thing they asked “if you would have come at that time, we would have spoken to those people”.
Later that evening:
In a restaurant one of the waiter was tickling a child when crossing him. After observing for few times, we asked the child if he was aware. He was aware but he said “ignoring”, not taking any action.
We called waiter and the child shared “don’t touch me, I am not comfortable” The waiter said “I was just playing, nothing wrong” The child expressed in firm voice “don’t do this to me”.
Both the experiences left us with a huge learning “reach out for help”. One child expressed “I learnt how to take care of myself by asking for help”. One child also shared “i am understanding the role of safety rules, I used to take them for granted, Now I am able to see my role!”.