Welcome to our page dedicated to Children & Young People

Highland Child Protection Committee

All children and young people have a right to be happy, feel safe and be protected from harm and abuse.

Being Safe

If someone is making you feel uncomfortable, scared or unhappy it’s important that you are able to tell someone you trust. We know it can be hard to find the right words to explain what it is you’re unhappy about.

Abuse and neglect mean lots of things, but generally those words mean that someone isn’t being treated well by someone who should look after them. There are different kinds of abuse:

  • Physical abuse happens when someone is punched, slapped, kicked, beaten or shaken
  • Emotional abuse happens when someone is made fun of, disapproved, shouted at alot or treated differently from other children and young people
  • Sexual abuse happens when someone touches you  or asks you to touch them in a way that doesn’t feel OK. They might ask you to keep it a secret or trick you into doing things you don’t want to
  • Neglect happens when a parent or carer doesn’t look after you properly, making sure you have clean, warm clothes, healthy food and somewhere clean and safe to live

If you do not feel safe or you are worried about another child or young person, SPEAK TO SOMEONE who can help you – this could be a Parent/Carer, Teacher, Nurse, Social Worker, Police Officer, Youth Worker or any other adult you trust.

You can also phone Childline on 0800 1111, the free helpline for children and young people in the UK.

For further information, click on: http://www.childline.org.uk/

Internet Safety

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre have a fabulous website you can visit to get loads of advice on keeping yourself safe whether Gaming, using Mobiles, Chatting Online, Podcasts and Blogs. Also, look out for the “Eye” Logo at the top right hand of the site where children and young people can report abuse and get the help they need.

For further information, visit: http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

Sexting

If you share an image of yourself online by photo, text or video, via your phone, tablet or computer always think first, “would I be ok with anyone and everyone seeing this?”.

If you send a picture of yourself over the internet you cannot control who sees it. It can be sent to anyone or put on any website for ever.

Did you know?

Being involved in sending sexually explicit pictures, where the person in the picture is under the age of 18, can be a criminal offence. This could lead to you getting into trouble with the police, affect your chances of getting a job and even limit the countries that you can travel to.

If someone is forcing you to send an inappropriate image of yourself you should report them to the Police by calling 101 or speak to an adult.

Bullying

No matter what, there is never an excuse for bullying and the victim is never to blame. If you are being bullied, or you see someone else being bullied, please tell someone.

Kidscape have a load of resources to help you understand bullying and how you can get help for yourself or others to overcome bullying: http://www.kidscape.org.uk/

Respect Me are another organisation who can give you lots of advice and support.

For further information, go to: http://respectme.org.uk/page-3/

Domestic Abuse – There’s No Excuse!

Domestic abuse is when one grown-up hurts or bullies another grown-up who is or was their partner, or who is in the same family. Domestic abuse can happen between people who are boyfriend and girlfriend or who are married.

It can happen when people live together or in different houses. Usually (but not always) it is the man who hurts the woman. Although domestic abuse happens between grown-ups, children can be affected by the abuse that they see and hear. Children can also be hurt or bullied as part of domestic abuse.

A healthy relationship is when  people treat each other as equals, they trust each other and treat each other with respect. In a healthy relationship, people should:

  • Support each other
  • Listen to each other’s feelings
  • When they have a disagreement, talk about it
  • Spend quality time together
  • Encourage each other
  • Take responsibility for their own actions
  • Respect women and men equally

For help and advice visit: http://www.scotland.police.uk/keep-safe/advice-for-victims-of-crime/domestic-abuse/