Explain the importance of safeguarding children and young people

We must safeguard children and young people as they are unable to protect themselves alone and are far more vulnerable to things such as abuse and neglect than adults are. It is our duty of care to protect children and young people from physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse and neglect. We must be able to identify early on the signs and symptoms of abuse or neglect before the child is to get in any serious danger. A child’s sudden change in behaviour could be a huge sign of abuse or neglect. For example if a child is to be subject to verbal abuse they may gradually become withdrawn and shy; they may even avoid interacting with other children in fear of being bullied for their differences. We are able to teach children what is right and wrong to a certain degree although this doesn’t necessarily mean they can protect themselves if they are to be in a dangerous situation; they may be frightened to tell someone in fear of being abused/neglected more or may think the person they tell will not believe them. It is of great importance that we are to safeguard children as they are very vulnerable and as a society it is our duty of care to protect children and young people from any harm or abuse before it ends in serious/fatal injury. A child could be severely beaten up until the point of death or admitted into hospital for a long time due to having obtained serious injury. If we are to notice signs of abuse or neglect we should get into contact with other multi-agency workers such as police and social workers immediately.