NO MEANS NO!!!
TEACH YOUR KIDS TO PRESERVE PERSONAL SPACE

Personal Space is like an invisible bubble that surrounds you and make you feel safe. This is something that everyone needs and we should always respect our loved ones privacy. Adults will easily understand but it is also very important to teach your kids about the personal spcace that they have to maintain from others. But parents face it very difficult to explain this to their child.

So here are some ideas that can help you to make your kids understand the value of personal space

MYSELF

The first and foremost thing that you need to tell your child is about themselves. Your body is no one’s property but your own. Only you can decide who should be allowed to get close, to touch you. No person should do that without your permission. And it doesn’t matter which of the relationship circles that person belongs to — especially when it comes to protecting one’s personal space during childhood. Be it the case of your grandpa forcing you to sit in his lap, or your mom’s best friend demanding that you give her a kiss on the cheek, you must not hesitate in telling others about it and you must not hesitate to say, "No! Stop doing this!"

FAMILY

This one represents our family and loved ones. Respect, trust, and affection — those are the factors that determine whom we admit into this closest of circles. However, even our nearest and dearest should be mindful of our personal space boundaries. Similarly, we, ourselves, should respect our loved ones’ privacy.

FRIENDS

It consists of people who belong to the "far away hugs" category. This includes our friends and those with whom we like to communicate. Friendship is very important and involves many things: cooperative games, conversations, revelry and, sometimes, friendly hugs. Friendship is always based on trust and respect. It is only natural that all of its manifestations, including hugs, must be based on mutual consent. This is important in relationships between kids as well as adults. A child must be aware of the fact that not all classmates have the right to behave as his or her friends. Also, parents should talk to their children to make them understand what criteria define friendship and how one must behave toward one’s friends.

ACQUAINTANCES

It encapsulates those to whom we might wave to in passing: superficial acquaintances that don’t play an important role in our life. When you’re a kid, these could include children on the school bus, kids from your neighbourhood, your sports teammates, or friends of your parents. Moms and dads need to introduce their little ones to social norms, different types of acquaintances, and related safety rules. Every kid should know the difference between close friends and the people with whom one simply exchanges a few phrases now and then. Children also need to be aware of the distance that must be observed by both sides in such relationships.

PROFESSIONAL HELPERS

Teachers, kindergarten workers, police officers, firefighters, nurses, and doctors — these people can help us when we need it, but they are not our friends. Parents ought to make sure their kids are familiar with different kinds of emergency situations and know whom one needs to contact in each particular scenario. Also, it is important to stress that all these people always wear special uniforms/badges and carry relevant ID papers.

STRANGERS

Here are some important that kids should know about the strangers. We don’t know these people (even if they say they know us, it doesn’t matter). Not all strangers are a threat, but, because they are strangers, we can’t tell whether they are good or bad. We don’t trust strangers. We don’t talk to them, and we don’t tell them anything about ourselves or our loved ones. We must not answer strangers’ questions. We must never, ever go anywhere with strangers or get in their cars. We don’t take sweets from strangers. We must not help strangers search for their runaway dogs or help them find the street they are looking for — adults should never seek assistance from those younger and weaker than themselves.

Parents and Teachers should talk about it through various situations, encouraging them to suggest what course of action needs to be taken in each case. All the while, the teachers repeat over and over, a hundred times, that If someone’s behaviour causes you discomfort, you must say “NO! STOP THAT!” If you feel that someone is treating you in unacceptable ways, tell your parents or your teachers at once. No one can touch you without your consent. But neither do you have the right to invade someone else’s personal space without permission. If the adults fail to see the importance of your complaints right away, repeat them again and again until they understand you. You must not try to solve the problem on your own. You must not hide your problem, and you must not feel ashamed of it. Do not be afraid to speak out. Do not be afraid to ask questions.

Most kids have a built-in understanding of how close to stand to other people when talking to them. But some kids who struggle with social cues don’t have that awareness and may turn off or annoy peers by standing too close. If your child stands too close to people when he talks to them, he probably does not feel the discomfort they feel. He may also not recognise the social cues that indicate he should take step back. Here is how you can teach the concept of personal space. Have your child stand about two feet away from you. Ask if that distance feels uncomfortable. Explain that this is how people feel when he stands too close, except their personal bubble is larger than his. Have family members, include your child as well, take turns standing too close or just the right distance when talking to each other. Take videos of these scenes, and review them together so your child has a clear idea of what appropriate spacing looks like. Explain if someone he is talking to takes a step back, your child should remain in place. The person is signalling that he would like more distance between them.