Safety While Travelling

If you are the parent of a teenage son or daughter, you would know well how worrying it is if your kid doesn't get home on time. And one really can't blame a parent for being distressed, because traveling by public transport in cities of India can be a harrowing experience, especially for a teenager.

As children grow into their teenage years, there're a lot of reasons why they'll need to travel further, go to new places, travel with certain work, etc. And none of these are unnecessary, and as a good parent you really shouldn't stop your kid from going around. After all, how else will he learn to take care of himself, if you won't let him handle new situations regularly? What you can do, however, is educate your teenager about the risks involved, tell them about incidents that happen commonly, and how to think on their feet, so he or she can get out of any such situation well in advance.

The risk of paedophiles to our kids is not something we can be in denial about, anymore. Though perverts can attempt an interaction with your child anywhere, it happens mostly in trains or buses. They use the opportunity to build a rapport with your teenager, and the naive mind of your child doesn't really notice the malice behind such moves. And teenagers find it more difficult to gauge by a conversation with an adult, what his ulterior motives could be.

The main reason traveling through metro cities today is risky, is because of the crowds in all means of transport. The strain on our infrastructure is quite extreme, due to the large volume of immigration over the last decade. This basically means your ward has to get into a crowded train or bus frequently, to get from one point to another. What can you do to make sure nobody harasses your child? Teach him or her to speak back. A lot of places teach self-defense to kids, and these classes are quite effective. Pepper spray or Mace is an excellent option, if you have a teenage daughter. A large number of perverts travel by public transport, especially to prey on naive children. You can tell your teenage son or daughter where they need to draw the line and what is ok or not, when it comes to proximity to a fellow passenger. You can teach them how to identify a potential pervert. But make sure they try and prevent such situations from arising, instead of cornering a pervert after an incident occurs, if it does. Today both men and women take advantage of teenagers, and the percentage of such women has risen over the past years. This is because it's much easier for a young person to trust a woman.

Though, such sexual predators are not the only risk your teenager faces. You need to make him or her aware of good habits such as carrying extra money, knowing in advance how much time he'll need to travel back and forth, carrying food and water, etc. Teaching road safety to kids is also very important. Even reminding him about basic habits like looking both ways before crossing a street, escalator precautions and noting registration numbers of cabs or rickshaws is a great idea. Kids often lose things in cabs, so memorizing registration numbers, for a short while at least, is good practice. Tell them how always commuting with friends, keeping important phone numbers on speed dial, and being cautious before entering shady areas, are very effective techniques of keeping themselves safe.

So go ahead, make your child more alert about his surroundings and teach him how to handle himself while traveling. After all, this translates into more peace of mind for you, when your kid is away.