Educating children to be wary of paedophiles

KUALA LUMPUR: Now that more Malaysians have become better acquainted with the term paedophile, it is time for them to realise that their children could also be exposed to sexual predators.
More so in this era of sophisticated information and communications technology, where perverts are able to befriend children and procure their images easily through social networking sites, it is important for parents to protect their children by educating them on paedophiles.
The extent of paedophilia in Malaysia remains a mystery, unlike in western nations which maintain databases of convicted paedophiles so that parents and carers are informed of child abusers who may be living in their areas.
Paedophilia became a heated topic of discussion in Malaysia recently when news reports emerged of a Malaysian student in London who was sentenced to five years imprisonment by a court there after he pleaded guilty to 17 charges of possessing some 30,000 pornographic images and videos of children, with the intention of distributing them.
The time has come for Malaysian parents to discuss sex more openly with their children so that they are made more aware of the sanctity of their physical bodies. But just how prepared are they to open up on this long-held "taboo" subject and, at the same time, warn their children about the danger posed by paedophiles?

THE RIGHT TO TOUCH ONE'S BODY
Commenting on this, Dr Nazariah Shar'ie Janon, who is a senior lecturer at the International Islamic University's Department of Psychology, said when discussing sex with their children, parents ought to be more open-minded and answer their questions in a rational and age-appropriate manner.
"Parents should inform their children that their physical bodies belong only to them and that others should not be allowed to touch their bodies. They should also tell them about the four areas subject to abuse – mouth, chest, buttocks and genitals.
"These four areas are construed as sensitive, which other people are not allowed to touch, feel, kiss or hold. We have to let our children know of these things so that they become more cautious," she told Bernama recently.
Dr Nazariah said the matter should be explained clearly to children to avoid any misinterpretation, adding that it was also crucial that they understood how important it was for them to safeguard themselves against sexual predators.
"Parents can, for example, draw a stick-like figure to denote a human being, and mark the areas that are deemed to be sensitive. Children should be told to scream or inform their parents should anyone try to touch them or if their private parts hurt," she said, adding that children should also be told not to trust strangers.

EARLY EXPOSURE TO SEX EDUCATION
Dr Nazariah believed that children should be exposed to sex education as soon as they were able to discern the difference between moral and immoral behaviour.
She said children should, from an early age, be taught about the changes that would occur in their physical bodies as they grew older.
"If we (parents) have children aged two and above, we should tell them not to reveal their bodies to others, even to members of their own families. Get them to wrap a towel around them after bathing, so that they don't run around naked when they emerge from the bathroom," she said.
Dr Nazariah also stressed the importance of effective communications, and urged parents to spend enough time with their children regularly so that they could listen to their problems and forge a healthy and loving relationship with them.
Relationships built on love and trust could bring forth children who were positive in their outlook, she added.

LEGISLATION

On the legislation covering sexual crimes against children, Dr Nazariah said the government should be aware that only through the strict and efficient enforcement of the relevant laws could such crimes be contained.
"Why can't our country take heed of advanced countries, which have long ago seen the seriousness of child sexual abuse. I hope our government drafts a special law to deal with sexual predators like paedophiles.
"This issue shouldn't be regarded as taboo because it can become serious if we fail to deal with it properly. Currently, there's no effective law or enforcement to detect individuals who are actively downloading (from the Internet) pornographic images and videos of children in Malaysia," she said.
The fact that today's children have free access to the Internet, without any supervision from their parents, has made the situation more worrying.
Dr Nazariah said the presence of children online has made it easier for paedophiles to hunt for victims.
She added that all parties should cooperate to ensure that appropriate punishment was meted out to child sex offenders in order to keep children safe from such perverts. – Bernama