How to protect children whilst travelling.
Our first two days in Laos were spent on Southeast Asia’s most iconic river, ‘the mighty Mekong’, as the locals like to refer to it.
As we meandered our way slowly down towards Luang Prabang, we often stopped briefly at small settlements. Locals would hop on and off and we’d drop off all sorts of deliveries from chickens to mopeds.
One of many riverside settlements along the Mekong.
At one such stop, the boat was attacked by a hoard of extremely young children. They clambered onto the sides of the boat, leaning in with fists full of bracelets and purses hoping we, along with our fellow tourists, would buy some.
Many on the boat found this all very cute, with some taking photos and others even handing out dollar bills to the kids. Unfortunately, it just made us feel rather uncomfortable.
Wasn’t this all a bit wrong?
Were we treating them like zoo animals?
Shouldn’t these kids be in school?
As the boat pulled away we smiled and waved goodbye to the children with a slightly bitter taste in our mouth. We couldn’t quite decide if we were being mean or not.
On arriving in Luang Prabang however, we came across a leaflet that not only confirmed our feelings but provided some brilliant advice for us and other travellers.
We wanted to share this advice as we think it’s something super important but is something many may not be aware of.
7 TIPS TO PROTECT CHILDREN ON YOUR TRAVELS
1 - Children are not tourist attractions - let’s not treat them like they are.
2 - Volunteering with children feels good but could be harmful - look for better ways to help them.
3 - Children pay a price for your generosity - don’t give to begging children.
4 - Professionals know best - call them if you think a child needs help.
5 - Sex with children is a crime - report child sex tourism.
6 - Children should not be at work instead of school - report child labour.
7 - Protect children - be a ChildSafe traveller.
To find out more on how you can protect children better and join the ChildSafe movement visit ThinkChildSafe.org
Your next trip could be an opportunity to make a real difference.
