Protecting Our Children During Holidays

 By Dickson Tumuramye

As school holidays begin, many children will spend close to a month at home, in communities, or traveling to visit relatives and friends. While the break offers rest and rejuvenation, it also presents serious risks, especially when children are left unsupervised or exposed to unsafe environments. Some parents never take a keen interest in knowing how children are doing at home, especially when they leave in the hands of “trusted” caretakers. Yet we keep hearing a lot of confessions about what's going on under our roofs just because we simply think everything is okay. You don’t even bother to ask children, one-on-one, to narrate how they spent their day.

 We need to ensure that our children are always safe, protected, and meaningfully engaged during this period, and that takes an extra effort for us to sit them down and always listen to them. It calls for our presence as well even when we may have other people around us to help us in the parenting process.

The Reality of Being Left Alone

In many homes, especially in urban centers, parents continue with work while children remain home alone or in the care of older siblings or nannies. This reality, though understandable, increases children’s vulnerability to domestic accidents, abuse, or negative peer influence, which sometimes children may not easily recognize. A lot of incidents happen that may be inevitable. Therefore, we need supervision, either a phone call or talking to the children and the caretaker during the day. Supervision is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.

Community Vigilance is Key

While long ago a child was for the whole village, these days, individualism has become the order of the day, especially in urban communities. People now mind their own business. Extended families and communities must step up. In villages and trading centers, neighbors used to look out for each other’s children. The value of the “ubuntu” community life should be revived. Let us be keepers of one another’s children and ensure our children are safe within our surrounding communities and environment. Don’t see someone’s child messing up, and you think it is none of your concern. Tomorrow it may be your child, and the worst may happen to him/her, and you will regret it later.

Manage the Screen Time

Children today are not only exploring the neighborhood, but they are also exploring the internet. With smartphones more accessible in our homes and data bundles now cheaper, either provided by parents or bought by children themselves, children are spending longer hours online. Some are even tech-savvy than parents yet still very young. While digital learning and entertainment have their place, unmonitored screen time can expose them to pornography, gambling apps, or online predators, cyberbullying, and the negative repercussions could be immense. Parents must learn how to activate parental controls, check browsing history, and set clear boundaries on what content is allowed. More importantly, we need to have open conversations about the dangers of the internet and television. Never fear to search their gadgets or pay keen attention to what they watch, do with the internet, and what they learn. This will help you to know how to come on board to help them.

Create a Simple Daily Structure

Children thrive with structure. Even during holidays, a basic routine like time for chores, reading, outdoor play, and creative hobbies, among others, can reduce boredom and limit risky behavior. Introduce age-appropriate responsibilities. Teach them how to cook simple meals, manage money, or care for pets. These are not punishments, they’re life lessons. Make an activity very compulsory for them to learn, yet very fun to enjoy, and appreciate the importance of doing such activities.

In Conclusion

Holidays should be a time of joy and connection, not injury, exposure, or regret. Let’s protect our children by staying present, setting boundaries, and looking out for each other. Their safety is our shared responsibility, and their future, our common investment.

The writer is the executive director of Hope Regeneration Africa, a parenting coach, marriage counselor, and founder of the Men of Purpose mentorship program

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Dickson Tumuramye is also a passionate speaker on:

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