Safe Environments - Why They Matter for Kids and How to Create Them

​In operation for more than 50 years, Hope Children’s Home (hopechildrenshome.org) provides care and a Christian-centered education to children in need. Located on a 55-acre campus in Tampa, Hope Children’s Home offers these kids a safe and nurturing environment in which to grow.

Children need a place where they feel socially, physically, and emotionally secure as they develop into adults. This will help them to gain confidence, build relationships, and reach their potential.

In contrast, when kids lack a safe environment, they are exposed to prolonged feelings of stress. As a result of this stress, hormones in the body wreak havoc with the connections in the brain circuits and have a lasting effect on children. These include a low threshold for stress, poor immune response, and learning deficits associated with memory.

Creating a safe environment for kids is relatively simple, but it does require effort on the part of adults. Limiting yelling and shouting will make kids feel more safe, as will giving them plenty of playtime. Encouraging their natural curiosity will also promotes a sense of safety.

Since kids learn from the adults around them, it is important that adults set a good example. Even when you think that a child cannot see or hear something, they usually can, and what they observe impacts their understanding of the world. This extends to the attitudes exhibited by the adults around them. While challenges in life are unavoidable, responding in a positive and consistent way provides children with a sense of stability and hope.

Hope Children's Home, NGO, Safe Environments

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