Protection also includes prevention. Giving a child or young person the knowledge and skills to prevent themselves getting into situations of concern is equally important. This may include providing children and young people with information how to stay away from harm, encourage them to talk to someone if they have any concerns, not to keep secrets, develop resilience, understand inappropriate behaviour towards them or if they see it happening to others and prepare them with skills and knowledge to help develop into responsible, well-rounded adults. Decision-making is a fundamental tool as it can help a child or young person understand consequences of their decisions. Children may need different strategies to those of young people purely because they are younger and may not have acquired the ability to process more complex ideas. For example, children should understand how to do …show more content…
Advice and support about the dangers of cyber-bullying is discussed in question 5.1. E-safety is becoming increasingly important as technology develops at a fast pace. Young people should know the dangerous presence of paedophiles online, schools should control internet use to allow only relevant websites and explain the dangers to students of giving out their personal details online. Young people need to be aware of language used by other online users that make them feel uncomfortable. In order for children and young people to make positive and informed decisions they must be provided with all the necessary information. There should be communication so that all options can be explored and the consequences of any decision made. It is important that any discussions promote freedom of expression and active listening as no two discussions are the same. Children and young people should also be directed toward other sources of help such as NSPCC, Bernardos and