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Child protection and safeguarding are responsibilities held collectively. Not only those directly involved in child care are obliged to ensure children's welfare and protection, but this duty also extends to anyone who interacts with children in their professional capacity. If your work brings you into contact with children, classified here as any individual under 18 years old, it is your duty to prioritise their well-being and safety.
Safeguarding is essentially proactive, aiming to promote children's welfare by protecting them from harm and identifying risks to their safety and security. In contrast, child protection is the reactive aspect, focusing on shielding children who are suffering or at risk of significant harm due to abuse or neglect.
Physical abuse is typified by actions that cause bodily harm, such as hitting, biting, or burning. Signs of such abuse may include unexplained injuries like bruises or fractures. Children might fabricate stories to justify these injuries or try to hide them with clothing.
Given its role as both an invaluable resource and a potential danger, child protection now encompasses the digital sphere. Supervising children's online activities is crucial for their safety due to the risk of exposure to harmful elements, such as sexual predators in chat rooms, explicit content, or radicalisation.
Cyberbullying, enabled by e-technology, has grown significantly over recent years, with over a third of young people reporting at least one incident. The proliferation of social media platforms, accessible on various devices, has resulted in an increase in online harassment. This could involve posting derogatory comments on someone's social media profile, impersonating someone online to ridicule them or bullying them via text messages or calls.
In this digital era, safeguarding and child protection must adapt and evolve to address these new challenges effectively.
