Be close to the child

November 2, 2023

In our country, cases of child deaths and injuries are recorded annually.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations has launched a new information campaign

"Be Close to Your Child!"

In our country, cases of child deaths and injuries are recorded annually. Often, the decisive factor in the occurrence of such incidents is the lack of adult supervision. Sometimes appeals do not yield the desired results, remain unheard, and parents, in turn, pay little attention to teaching children basic safety rules. But worse, they sometimes set an example of unsafe behavior themselves.

In order to once again draw parents' attention to the existing social problem, employees of the Research Institute of Fire Safety and Emergency Situations of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Belarus have approached this issue on a large scale and created a new information campaign "Be Close to Your Child!", the implementation of which will be a new approach to solving this difficult task.

To interest and involve parents in teaching children safety, organize their useful leisure time, change previous views and help them realize the necessity and importance of this process – this is how the Ministry of Emergency Situations employees see the implementation of this campaign. To influence parents' careless attitude towards children's safety issues, to motivate them not to leave children unattended – this is the main goal of the information campaign.

Many parents believe that a child can be left alone at home even for a few minutes, especially with a phone, as there is an opportunity to contact them at any moment. And in order to entertain the child, cartoons, games or videos can be played on the gadget. Thus, they will be under their control and safe. But this is a misconception. Parents forget the most important thing: in the event of a threat, a phone call cannot protect or save a child from danger.

The new information campaign, aimed at preventing child deaths in fires and at water bodies, will be launched across the country in August. It is based on the established opinion about parental control of their child using a phone and demonstrates situations where a child is in danger, and the parent can only call, but not help. At the same time,

when creating outdoor advertising, the depiction of a child in immediate danger is not used. A children's smartphone takes on this role. It is the phone that ends up at the epicenter of the tragedy. This is the main idea: behind the seemingly bright image – the phone, which has replaced the child everyone expected in the frame – hides a very important message, revealed in a concise slogan. "A phone will not watch over your child!" – this phrase, combined with the visual, fully demonstrates the consequences of irresponsible attitudes towards child safety. It is the catchy slogan, combined with an unconventional image, that is the most potent and effective way to "hold" the target audience's attention on the raised issue and call them to action.

It should be noted that the success of the project depends on many factors, therefore, the Ministry of Emergency Situations employees approached it with a grand scale – a whole brand package has been created, where everything is aimed at drawing parents' attention to child safety.

Thus, rescuers will reach the maximum target audience and try to reach every parent – to urge them not to leave children unattended, to be near the child to prevent a possible tragedy and teach them safety rules.

Don't stay aside either: join the campaign and ensure a safe childhood for your children!