The Child Safety Department (CSD), an affiliate of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA) in Sharjah, organised a series of activities during Ramadan to heighten awareness of children and parents on cyberbullying and cybersafety, among others.

The activities held through the Holy Month included a live Instagram session for parents titled ‘How do I instill good behaviour in my child’. Presented by Prof. Mohammad Ahmed, psychologist and family specialist,the session highlighted parents can utilise Ramadan to instil positive behaviours in their children.

Awareness sessions during Ramadan

CSD also organise deight awareness sessions that targeted 778 students from Sharjah’s private schools. The topics included children’s rights, first aid, cybersafety and cyberbullying, in addition to two reading sessions from CSD’s children’s publications.Two members from CSD’s Cyber Safety Ambassadors initiative, Jameela Al Zaabi and Batool Al Tamimi, presented cyber safety awareness sessions to their peers.

Child safety first

Hanadi Saleh Al Yafei, Director of CSD, said: “Our activities were aimed at utilising Ramadan’s reflective period to raise awareness about child safety in schools and in the home.We also held workshops and competitions for parents, especially since families’ daily schedules change during the Holy Month, which requires more effort to ensure that children’s safety and health needs are met.”

Al Yafei stressed the importance of focusing more on children’s psychological health during Ramadan, especially since they may not be able to adapt to the changes that occur during the month, noting that this calls for extra care and constant monitoring on part of parents. She stressed that lack of monitoring is one of the key factors that leads to accidents at home.

Weekly competitions and prizes

CSD’s Ramadan activities included a weekly competition on its Instagram account (@childsafetyuae), which included questions relating to helping children to cope with fasting, especially those fasting for the first time, during the holy month. Each Friday, a winner among CSD’s Instagram followers was selected through a raffle draw to win a cash prize.