Parents were told not to leave their children with their housekeepers for a long period during the nationwide awareness campaign, which is being carried out by the Ministry of Health (MoH), on Wednesday.

Laila Al-Wehbi, a prominent Saudi social worker, offered the advice to parents during a phone-in discussion held on how parents should combat sexual abuse on their children.

The MoH launched a Kingdom-wide awareness campaign last week to inform parents on how to prevent children from sexual harassment. The campaign is organized by the ministry’s National Center for Media and Health Promotion. The center hosted a group of health specialists who advised people on how to prevent sexual harassment on children and the behavior patterns of people.

Members of the public were able to contact the officials on the toll free number 8002494444 between 1 and 3 p.m. during the period.

During the week, Wafa Maria Ahmed Asiri, head of the kindergarten unit of the Ministry of Education talked about the nature and various types of sexual harassment and how to prevent them. She also advised teachers and school management on how to prevent and deal with these issues at the school level.

Professor Khalid Al-Ragas, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education at the King Saud University dwelt on the symptoms that appear on the children, who have been harassed sexually and the impact of sexual harassment on them.

Speaking on the home environment of the child, Al-Wehbi said there is a strong possibility of children getting abused by servants, who stay with them alone for long periods of time. She pointed out that when a mother leaves her children alone with housekeepers, it might result in the child learning shaken ethics, getting physically or mentally abused and developing a confused identity.

Housemaids come from a different society, whether culturally or socially, as well as a different economic environment.




These social differences and hardship might result in ill treatment toward the children under a housemaid’s care.

The social worker urged parents to give children adequate love, recognition and security to enable them to trust and follow their parents’ life styles.

Al-Wehbe insisted that moral values should be inculcated in the minds of the children to help them grow with confidence and determination.

“Besides teaching good moral values,” she said “Send them to bed early, make them get up early in the morning and do not allow them to talk to strangers closely.”

She also urged parents to guide their children to play with educational toys, explaining that it would help them develop their thinking abilities.

The social worker also said that the child should realize that he or she is an important member in the family and that he or she has some social responsibility toward the society.

Blurb:

Moral values should be inculcated in the minds of the children to help them grow with confidence and determination.