If you were asked to remember a safe, happy moment from your childhood, where would your mind travel? What is the place like? What is the environment like? Beyond the nostalgia that you may feel in the present doing this exercise, can you remember if you felt joy, peace, security? For Fundación JUCONI México, AC, safe spaces in childhood are a fundamental element for the full and healthy development of any girl, boy or adolescent. Talking about a safe space is talking about a physical space, free from any type of violence, a space that provides care and accompaniment, that allows and encourages healthy physical, social and emotional development.
Although for many people the definition of a safe space is associated with the family home, the reality is that our country, and in many others, this is not the case for hundreds of thousands of children and adolescents. The situations can be very varied, for example, in the recent and current context of Mexico, among the most frequent are family violence, contextual violence, situations of forced human mobility and situations of natural emergencies.
A safe space is one where the child or adolescent feels heard, seen, protected and accepted, Unicef defines it as a “welcoming environment”. These spaces, although in our imagination they could or should occur naturally, in reality they require an active and conscious participation on the part of the adult, since there must be intentional actions to promote the healthy attachment, safety and development of the girl. , child or adolescent; the responsibility that we have with them and them demands from us the effort.
The foregoing leads us to ask ourselves different questions, uncomfortable and perhaps painful, ranging from the personal to the community: you, as a responsible adult, are you really making an effort to provide a space where your daughter, son, nephew, niece, can feel safe to make mistakes, learn, develop? Are you really being aware that it is your responsibility to stimulate, not just monitor, their healthy development and sense of security, to build these safe spaces?
We, as a community, are we protecting, demanding the creation of these spaces for Mexican children? Are we creating the instances so that every girl, boy or adolescent who is in Mexican territory has these “oasis” regardless of the conditions of vulnerability who are you facing?
If you and our conscience do not allow us to answer “yes” to everything at this moment, from Fundación JUCONI México, AC we invite you to take action, become aware of the space that you are building for children and adolescents, look for ways and actions that feed it intentionally and that not only from your perception is a safe place, but also from theirs.
Monitor, cooperate and demand that these spaces be created for others, for girls, boys and adolescents who, although you do not know personally, are part of your country, your community, our present and future; let’s give them a place to turn to when confronted as adults with the question, “If you were asked to recall a safe, happy time from your childhood, where would your mind travel?”
At Fundación JUCONI we work in the most vulnerable and marginalized contexts, where the creation of safe spaces faces enormous challenges. However, for 34 years we have learned and verified that despite the conditions it is possible to build, and help build others, safe spaces that modify the risk factors of children and adolescents, favoring their full development and sense of self. security.
We know firsthand that physical spaces can have meanings of peace and protection despite how adverse external conditions may seem. If we want to be fair to our children and adolescents, working to provide and guarantee this type of space is not an option, but an obligation. Together for girls, boys and adolescents.
*The Mtra. Alejandra Arvizu, is the technical and academic coordinator of Fundación JUCONI México, AC
