According to the Director of the Child Abuse Prevention Unit(Ag), Nicole Toussaint Jno.Baptiste, it is equally important for parents to manage their own feelings during this time of crisis in order to be able to keep children safe.
She says, “Parents should try not to release their stress by consuming alcohol or any other related drugs. This leaves their child open to others abusing them because parents are not in the best frame of mind to give them proper care and protection”.
She admits that parents may become frustrated because of quarantine, unemployment or decrease in income to meet the needs of the family.This too may result in abuse of children if parents lash out verbally or physically against the child because of the frustrations mentioned above.
She suggests some ways in which parents can release stress in order to prevent abuse of their children:
1. When angry take time out before punishing the child or dealing with the situation which made you angry
2.Do activities that bring you joy daily
3.Do self-care activities such as reading a book, deep breathing, exercises, reflection, listen to music
4. Stay in contact with loved ones through social media and mobile phone
5. Identify someone who can be of support to you when needed
6. Listen to reliable information about the virus and do not overwhelm yourself with a lot of information
7. Show and express love to family and loved ones and spend quality time with them.
Jno.Baptiste encourages all to make use of the help available for psychosocial support such as the Red Cross hotline or the child protection unit.
Always report child abuse to the Child Protection Unit or the nearest police station.
Remember the Virus will end one day but family will always be there and we must do all that we can to protect them.
