Don't

Don’t let children play on the rooftop with low railings. Photo: Prabir Das

Jihad was just like any other 4-year old kid; innocent, playful, unsuspecting, and inquisitive.
The deep tube-well contractors Dhaka WASA at Shahjahanpur were just like almost any other entity in Bangladesh; arrogantly careless about safety issues, lacking knowledge and skill about their trade, and devoid of any degree of professionalism. “Nothing will happen” seem to be their motto, primarily because their children are nowhere near the open pit, hundreds of feet deep.
Alarm bells did not ring in Bangladesh after more than one incident in neighbouring India of children falling into their death traps. Unwittingly they found themselves at the bottom of a narrow vertical channel. Imagine the shock and fear amid the pain of a child who is in total darkness, in possibly very cold and wet conditions, hungry after a while, calling his mother, father, sleepy… but only as long as the last breath.
As a nation we are pathetically careless, culpable of murder and for inflicting injuries on others due to what we do and we do not. The aura of “damn care” is evident everywhere: at home, at work, at the bazaar, at the playground, on the road, off the road, on the train, boat, with water, with electricity, with fire... We don't give a damn to any safety aspect because we believe that the misfortune will happen to someone else. But, that disaster-struck “someone else” is also a “me”, or was.
Sadly, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA)-UK, “Childhood injuries are closely linked with social deprivation. Children from poorer backgrounds are five times more likely to die as a result of an accident than children from better off families - and the gap is widening”.
We should start a national campaign of “don't” telling us all how we can keep our children and the rest of us safe. Here are some, and you definitely can think of many more:
Don't leave a child unsupervised, never, under no circumstances
Don't allow a child near hot objects, such as iron, pots and pans
Don't allow a child near hot water
Don't allow a child to be stifled by a blanket or quilt
Don't clutter your staircases or corridors, as a child may trip and fall
Don't allow a child to touch electric switches and sockets
Don't give hard lozenges or chewing gum to a child, who may not be old enough to have them
Don't give coins or marbles or such things to a child, who might put them in the mouth
Don't give toys with small parts to a child who may not understand
Don't keep a bucketful of water wherein a child may fall
Don't keep medicine and household chemicals where children can see or reach them
Don't let a child be endangered by a moving car, especially one that is reversing
Don't let a child carry a heavy object even in jest
Don't let a child climb a veranda railing
Don't let a child handle knives and sharp objects
Don't let a child near an oven, gas or electric
Don't let a child play with a long rope or wire
Don't let a child play with matchsticks
Don't let a child sit on an adult chair without armrest; get a high chair made for a child
Don't let a child sit on the back seat of a vehicle except on a designed child seat or a lap
Don't let a child sit on the front seat of a motor vehicle
Don't let a child slide down a staircase banister
Don't let a child wander on to wet floor
Don't let children fly kite on the rooftop
Don't let children play on the roof unsupervised by an adult
Don't let them hang on to and climb window grills, unless the frame is set behind the building aperture and the steel elements are fastened well
Don't let them have long nails
Don't lock your child in the house and go out, not even for one minute
Don't make it easy for a child to open a fridge or a washing machine door
Don't ride a motorbike with your child
Don't ride on a rickshaw with one child on your lap and another sitting beside you; you are holding on to nothing
Don't sit with a child inside a vehicle when the CNG cylinder is being charged, neither should you
Don't tell a child to run an errand across a street or any unsafe errand
Don't let a child walk in shoes without having the shoelaces tied well
Having said all that, getting hurt and bruised from falling and scraping, being shoved and pushed, are all a part of growing up; and yes, childhood would not be the same without some cuts and welts. Children should not be shielded in a cocoon, yes, but unnecessary injuries and death can be avoided. Come on, the kid has just been born. Let him see what sort of a world we are leaving behind. And he deserves it safe.
Every child is the father of man. Psychology will teach us that a child should not be frequently admonished with “don't”; rather they should be encouraged to “do”. That is why let us keep on telling each other, do keep buildings, open areas, streets and pavements safe.
“Do keep the children safe”, for tomorrow they will keep theirs.

Protect your children from these deathtraps. Photo: Prabir Das