The peak of summer is approaching. This is the time when children are ready for a well-deserved break from schoolwork and routine.

As much as it is a happy time for the children and parents, this is also the time when our children are exposed to risks. Unhealthy distractions are aplenty in this day and age.

Places of entertainment and bars are the most common haunts of the young ones because we do not have better alternatives for them. Worse, these dangerous places for the young minds have no rules and system to keep them away. If there are, they are blatantly disregarded. For example, bars cannot sell alcohol to person below the age of eighteen, but children as young as fifteen walk in for a shot or two or to buy drinks for their parents. Discotheques and drayangs have no age limit to keep children away.

In the urban centres, lifestyle change is giving rise to degradation of traditional family values. Parents are busy chasing their small dreams. Fathers are out almost every day playing archery; mothers have their own distractions and engagements elsewhere. In the homes where children do not get attention, care and love of their parents, there is bound to be problem. According to police reports, summer and winter vacations when schools are closed are the times when crime rate goes up. Sadly, some children do not return for the next academic session or year because they have come in conflict with law.

Soon the schools will close for summer vacation. It is the time for parents to remind themselves of parental responsibilities. Take care of your children; give them love and attention. That’s all they need. Otherwise, they’ll head out to seek small attractions someplace else that are not necessarily healthy.

Engage your children in productive activities that are plentiful especially during academic breaks. Guide them and inspire them with things beneficial to them.