As National Child Protection Week unfolds, it reminds us that safeguarding our children starts with empowering them.
There’s a moment many adults know too well. A child suddenly goes quiet around a certain person.
They pull away from hugs they used to enjoy. They become anxious, withdrawn, angry or unusually clingy. And often, because life is busy and children are “just being children", the signs are missed.
That is why this year’s conversations around National Child Protection Week feel especially urgent.
Experts say protecting children does not begin when something traumatic happens. It begins much earlier in the ordinary, everyday moments where children learn whether their feelings, boundaries and voices matter.
