Why don't we care about children?

I'm part of a group working on a seminar to learn more about how to safe-guard children and young people. It's not just the role of parents, or schools or agencies - we all have a part to play in keeping children and young people safe.

If you work with people, then chances are you will see things that show a family is under pressure, or that children are at high risk of harm. What do you do?

You start by doing someting - something useful - sharing the information with an appropriate agency is a good beginning - even if it is just to give them a call and say "I'm worried and I'm not even sure if I should be". Just because you make that call, doesn't mean to say that you will trigger a full investigation - it's not about that, it's about sharing information so the people who make those decisions have as much information as possible.

Don't go to bed worrying about whether you should have done something - call CYFS or the Police and ask to speak to a child protection officer - start by just discussing your concerns with them and showing children that we really do care about them.

Safe-guarding children and young people, and actually anyone who is vulnerable, is something we all should be doing.