Your child's safety is in your own hands

I met an old colleague last week who had just come back from attending a summer school in Norway. His course – peace and security. He works as a Security Personnel for one of the peace missions in Nepal funded by the USAID. I invited him for lunch obviously his treat for bagging awesome jobs one after another, a full course treat long overdue. He talked endlessly fueled by my questions about the course, the teaching methods in Norway and the instructors charm, the school environment, Oslo. Everything sounded exciting and he encouraging me to apply for one of these courses too. I used to be one of him working for development projects. But that’s an old fact now.  

He continues to talk about the course and how he feels motivated to learn more and study further. He talked about how the children in Oslo wear all kinds of gears ranging from helmet to knee guards while riding bicycles. These happy children playing and riding bikes in the parks reminded him how he had himself neglected the safety of his 3 year old son. He added, “I bought a helmet for my son, that was the first thing I did after landing in TIA.” I asked him if these small helmets are available in our Nepali market and he smiled and said, “yes they are available but it never struck to me to buy one.  I just didn’t realize the importance of a helmet and all this time I was endangering the life of my son. I get sacred when I think back.”

Better late than never my friend I said to myself. I see thousands of children traveling with their parents in a bike without a helmet. I know even those families who may not earn enough can definitely afford to by a helmet for their children. Helmet comes cheap and most importantly it saves lives.

Our police department is doing a great job in implementing seat belts compulsory while driving and crackdown against drinking and driving. How about implementing a rule where parents must make their children wear helmets while riding with them?