Why Children and Young People need you now, more than ever before!

Coronavirus, Coronavirus, Coronavirus - that is all we are hearing recently! It scares me as an adult, so I can only imagine what it must feel like to be a child or young person! As we venture through these unprecedented times, children and young people need us now more than ever before. Research tells us that during times of crisis, like we are currently in, there is an increased risk of child abuse and family violence. As adults begin to work from home, lose their jobs or hit financial difficultly, we know there is additional burden on them, and children and young people can be on the receiving end of this.

Additionally, as organisations begin to lose revenue, those who wish to harm children and young people begin to make themselves readily available to organisations whilst their guards are down. those individuals are looking for vulnerable children and young people, and we need to ensure that even during times of crisis, we all remain diligent in the safeguarding children and young people space to ensure they are not harmed in any way. That is why safeguarding children and young people is even more important at this time. We must do all we can to continue to hear children and young people’s voice during the Coronavirus outbreak and support them to speak up about their worries and fears. We must also ensure that we as organisations, do not let safeguarding slip off the priority list. Although we are ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our staff and our financial resilience, we simply cannot forget children and young people at this time. Simple things like keeping staffing ratios, vigorous recruitment checks and continued education and training within organisations may seem challenging during these times are vital to ensure we protect all children and young people from abuse and neglect.

Although we face difficult times ahead, let’s make sure we continue to keep our organisations safe for children and young people whilst giving them a voice to share their worries, fears and concerns.