A better city for children

This year, Child Welfare Grahamstown, founded in 1917, celebrates its centenary anniversary.

We are one of the oldest voluntary organisations in South Africa and our core work is to provide child protection and prevention services in the Grahamstown and surrounding areas. Our services are provided through the traditional social work methods of case work, group work and community work.

As part of our child protection and prevention services we also strive to bring about child protection awareness to all Grahamstown communities.

We aim to encourage the community to become involved in the protection of children, identify children in crisis and empower children to protect their rights and responsibilities.

As part of this awareness campaign, we will be bringing to our Grocott's Mail readers a 12-part series focusing on, inter alia, what are our children’s rights, a monthly snapshot of the types of problems we deal with and a definition of child abuse and neglect, together with steps to follow when one suspects child abuse and neglect.

We will also look at the interaction of socialisation and child safety, as well as the importance of introducing safety information and prevention techniques against different forms of abuse at a young age, without alarming a child unnecessarily.

Our high caseloads are evidence that child abuse and neglect is escalating in Grahamstown’s communities.

A simple understanding of children’s rights and a knowledge of what child abuse and neglect is, is in our view, the first step to prevent and alleviate these problems.

A victim of child abuse or neglect has the right to be protected and we should all be in a position to provide help.

Children have the right to grow up in a safe environment and be happy and healthy. Simply put, all children have the right to a home, food, drink and clothing.

They have the right to receive medical care when they are sick and the right to an education.

In addition, children living with disability have the right to special care to meet their special needs.

Most important, all children have a right to be loved, to feel safe, to be treated with respect and to bodily integrity. Failure by an adult to recognise these rights constitutes child abuse.

In our next article, we will look at the acknowledged categories of child abuse, namely, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, abandonment, child labour and structural abuse.

Together we can transform Grahamstown and move away from a society that places little value on children.

Let us always be reminded that child protection is everyone's responsibility!