(This article was submitted by Mr. George Mathew who is the CEO of a new-age preschool chain based at Trivandrum called “The Wonder Years Preschool”. The author is a researcher on child development and can be contacted at george.mathew@thewonderyears.co.in. For more details please visit http://www.thewonderyears.co.in)

A couple of days back I got a visit from one of my clients, parents of a child who had been part of my Summer Camp. The moment I saw them, I knew there was something amiss. I tried to read their faces – confusion, anger, relief, sadness, betrayal, hope – a host of emotions were playing on their faces. 
We sat down in my office and after the usual pleasantries I asked about the purpose of their visit (especially since their child had gone back to school after enjoying the Summer Camp thoroughly). They gingerly said they wanted to thank us for saving their child’s life!

Now it was my turn to be surprised and have a host of emotions on my face!

As it turned out, the child had benefited a lot from a talk I give to our Summer Camp kids.

Every year, as part of Summer Camp activities, I give a talk to the kids (usually 6yrs+) on how to recognise ‘Bad Touch’ by an adult and what to do in case something like that happens to them by following a set of very simple instructions – NO, GO, TELL.

The parents narrated how their child had recently been subject to such a situation by someone very close to their family. This explained the emotions on their faces. It makes it so much more difficult to accept when we know the perpetrator so well but that was exactly what happened. All my paternal instincts were fired up. To think that this innocent child, who I happened to know so well, had to go through something like this was beyond me.

But fortunately, because of the talk, the child was able to think straight and escape from the place and promptly inform the parents. Of course, the parents made sure that the monster would not be in contact with their child anymore. 

If not for that talk, this child would perhaps not have known what to do and how to react. For me, it was such a relief to know that nothing untoward had happened and that the child is happy and content knowing that the parents are there to protect in any situation.

I’m sad that such monsters still exist in our society … but I’m glad that at least my set of summer campers is safe from such predators.

This is why we all exist, right? To take care of our children, to see to it that they get the best life they can hope for, and remain happy and playful throughout their lives. 

God bless our little ones…

Links to the talk on our Youtube channel