Since 2019, Jiangmen Women's Federation has entrusted Jiangmen Ideal Family Social Work Service Center to implement the project aimed at protecting the safety of children in Jiangmen, a city in South China's Guangdong Province. The center has offered online courses to help children better protect their safety. The center has also established a work mechanism, through which schools, families and society work together to help children raise their awareness about the importance of protecting themselves from sexual assault, bullying at school and other actions that infringe children's personal rights. The mechanism is also used to teach children how to avoid putting themselves in danger, and what they can do if their rights are infringed.

Diverse Online Courses 

Lu Peiying, director of the center, is the project's supervisor. Through investigations, she has discovered the causes of cases involving children's injuries: Parents' failing to fulfill their duties of guardianship, and children's lack of knowledge about how to protect themselves against potential danger. "Some parents and school teachers have put little effort into helping children improve their ability to protect their safety. Also, many children have had no idea how to increase knowledge about protecting their safety," concludes Lu

The team has arranged for psychologists, medical experts and scholars (who study laws and regulations) to provide courses, to teach children how to avoid various dangers, including sexual assault, drowning, bullying at school, accidental injuries, and drug abuse. The team's members have used various education methods (including interactive games and situation comedies), to teach children how to better protect their safety, and to help children improve their awareness of the importance of protecting themselves against various dangers. 

To attract greater public participation in the project, the members have created online courses to help children improve their ability to protect their safety. Homes for women, at the grass-roots level in Jiangmen, have included the courses in their activities aimed at helping minors protect their legal rights and interests. Women's federations, at all levels in Jiangmen, have also shared information about the courses via their online platforms. So far, nearly 150,000 children, and their parents, have benefited from the courses. 

Efficient Experimental Sites 

Lu often recalls the hardships the members have encountered, especially when they began implementing the project. "We had a hard time getting permission from some communities, and primary and middle schools (in Jiangmen), so we could provide lectures to children and/or their parents, to help children better protect their safety," says Lu. 

With the help of Jiangmen Women's Federation, the team has established experimental sites in several primary and middle schools (in Jiangmen), and in homes for women (in several local grassroots communities). At the sites, the members have organized social workers, psychologists, medical experts and scholars (who study laws and regulations) to offer courses to children and/or their parents, to help the children improve their ability to stay safe. 

The team has also set up work studios (in several primary and middle schools) to help and care for the children. The studios' workers have arranged for social workers and teachers to visit the children, so they can determine firsthand the children's needs, and the various difficulties the children face, especially regarding the protection of their safety. The studios have established a work mechanism, under which psychologists and/or social workers have provided psychological counseling and other services to children, so they can better protect their safety. 

Many primary and middle schools have set up "intimate words mailboxes," which accept students' letters, in which they pour out their worries and/or anxieties. The students may also seek help from teachers and/or social workers via the schools' online platforms. 

In August 2021, the team established Jiayuan Volunteers' Group at the experimental site in the home for women, in Jianghai, a district in Jiangmen. During the past two years, the group has organized members of the executive committees of women's federations, at the grass-roots level in Jianghai, and cadres with and police officers in local grass-roots communities, to conduct surveys regarding domestic violence, and other hidden threats to children's safety, so the group's members can provide services to better protect children's safety. 

Luo Yufeng, a student of Jiangmen No. 9 Middle School (in Pengjiang, a district in Jiangmen), and Hu Zhiling, a student of Xinhui Chan King Luen Middle School (in Xinhui, another district in Jiangmen), joined the group, after they had participated in activities organized by the group. Both Luo and Hu take delight in organizing interactive activities, during which students share information about the protection of minors' safety. "I'm pleased to see so many … take part in our activities. That makes me feel what we are doing is meaningful," says Luo.

One-On-One Assistance

With the help of Jiangmen Women's Federation, Jiangmen Ideal Family Social Family Social Work Service Center in 2020 initiated a campaign to strengthen protection of the safety of disadvantaged children (including disabled children, migrant children, minors from poverty-stricken families and left-behind children, whose parents have left home to work elsewhere). The campaign was a component of Jiangmen's Project to Strengthen Protection of Children's Safety. 

The center's workers have compiled files on the children, to ensure the workers maintain accurate records of the children's personal information. The center has organized social workers and members of the executive committees of the women's federations, at the grassroots level in Jiangmen, to offer one-on-one assistance to mentally challenged girls. 

Social workers, in various communities in Jiangmen, have offered one-on-one assistance to nearly 1,000 girls, monthly, during the past three years. The workers have also created picture books and brochures, which have contained information about how to help children protect their safety. The workers distributed the materials among residents, so parents could help their children better protect their rights and interests. 

Since 2019, the center has conducted nearly 230 activities, in more than 20 primary or middle schools, and more than 150 communities (all in Jiangmen), to promote implementation of the project. Approximately 200,000 children and their parents have benefited. 

Lu recently told media her team's members would make greater efforts to improve lectures (to children and/or their parents), and to develop more practical teaching toolkits, both of which are aimed at helping children better protect their safety. Lu also said the team would establish more lecturers' groups, which would provide diverse services to children and their parents, to help children improve their ability to protect their safety. Lu said she hopes various social forces will join the members in strengthening protection of children's safety.

(Women of China English Monthly June 2023 issue)