Children and teenagers have to be streetwise more than adults

You see all these articles thus far on my blog i.e. authentic power, the power of vulnerability, the power of visualisation, victim to victory, self-belief, the time is now, do not wait any longer and do not wait until old age, and the all the rest…

Some articles might relate to you more than others and this has everything to do with you being ready for this information at this time or further down your life. There’s no harm done in being aware. When I was a child, did I get the concept of “The power of vulnerability,” “Authentic power” or “Do not wait any longer and do not wait until old age?” No way, I had my own challenges like learning how to read, being accepted by the girls and not being teased by both boys and girls. I didn’t want to be picked on for eating something which others might despise. Children are petty and they pick things up from the television, their family members, their siblings (when their siblings might still be teenagers themselves), it seems like what they are surrounded by is right to them while what you might be surrounded by seems right to you. What is right in fact? Everyone seems to have their own version of being right? This is purely a choice and a belief.

Articles like authentic power, the power of vulnerability will get you into trouble even if you get it. Guard that knowledge you have because your level in life might be higher than others. You can’t go around teaching this to other children or teenagers when they simply are not in families with strong educational backgrounds or live life differently unless you have a great connection with them and have a relationship around trust. Not everyone is open to this. Perhaps your own circle of friends will get it and practise it but the truth is the most vulnerable person out there right now is you whether you’re eight, ten, fifteen, eighteen and even twenty-one.

As a child, as far as I knew, my concern was immediate to not getting bullied the next day and was my homework correct? I was on survival and flight mode, fight mode didn’t exist. Anxiety about what the next day, the next week, the next month and the next year was going to look like for me was always there with regards to what was going to happen at school and not so much schooling itself. Who would care about reading articles at the age of eleven, thirteen, or fifteen on, “The time is now, do not wait any longer and do not wait until old age,” when the last few years were all about school and talks on when you’re going to become an adult and then you still got more years ahead of you in school to become an adult. You’re only just going to start living.

There isn’t only the danger of the wrong crowd but there’s a danger of some really messed up people out there. You must always be streetwise and attentive which I’ve noticed many of you really are. It’s hard for single parents who have just one child to get this balance right. These kids seem to be more mature than their age and they are tuned in on a different level. Their relationships with their parents are often strong but they may have difficulty making friends with kids their age. Single mothers’ and their daughters are the most vulnerable.

I found this article around single parents and the likelihood of children being bullied

https://www.secureteen.com/bullying-prevention/single-parenting-kids-and-bullying-share-deep-ties/

Check this article out

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-46261699

I want to reiterate that teaching kids how to be streetwise does not mean they shouldn’t be supervised and that you shouldn’t have much concern or responsibility. It just means that they have something extra, a few more things that could save their life from a dangerous situation.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/3297996/Dont-lock-up-your-children.html

https://www.liveabout.com/raise-street-smart-kids-3129408

Children and teenagers are the most vulnerable and caring less about people they don’t know who call them to their car or try to lure them shouldn’t even be part of their conscience. Disrespect and upsetting someone they hardly know shouldn’t be what they should be worried about in certain situations or in a certain environment, their safety should be number one and unfortunately, they need to be reminded about it always. It’s important to build their confidence and their body language so that they look strong and not weak as this is what bullies, abductors and criminals are looking out for.

Your child should be trained on certain information like their home address, telephone number, emergency telephone numbers and they should be told that they don’t need money to make the emergency call. Children and teenagers should know the difference between the right kind of affection to the affection that doesn’t feel right. It’s not about what they see it also is about how they interpret things because as you’re aware there are cases of kids getting abused by family members or relatives. Parents should know that bullies, criminals and abductors might even be watching this child daily to see what their family is like, does anyone care enough, is the child from a poor background after all they don’t want to get caught or end up in prison.

Additional articles

https://www.broadbandsearch.net/blog/online-safety-parental-controls

T. Dench Patel

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