Category: Lifestyle


 Sex film porn stars pose at a film producer exhibition hall during Greece's Athens Erotic Dream sex fair at a suburb of Athens .

Sex film porn stars pose at a film producer exhibition hall during Greece’s Athens Erotic Dream sex fair at a suburb of Athens .

Young women whose romantic partners frequently watch porn are less happy in their relationships than women with guys who don’t, new research finds.

Measuring up to pornographic images were a concern in the new research by LiveScience.

The research presents some anecdotal evidence that men’s porn use can shake the confidence of their girlfriends or wives.

However, not all couples have issues  over porn, said study researcher Destin Stewart, a clinical psychology intern at the University of Florida.

308 college women, ages 18 to 29 years old, filled out online questionnaires about their current partner’s porn use as well as their relationship quality, sexual satisfaction and self-esteem.

Source: Livescience

Image: Reuters

All right, ladies, don’t get your knickers in a knot but—believe it or not—today is No Panty Day.

The Twitter-verse has exploded with posts, comments, messages and general tomfoolery over the next “panties optional” 24 hours. Confirming the trending subject was Twitter user Ghetto Uberfacts, and others were quick to jump in.

“In the spirit of No Panty Day I took mine off… but ssshhhh… don’t tell anyone,” announced BlondTink.

“Yaaaaay!!! So nobody is wearing panties today okay fine by me,” squealed Deadloxx Rasta.

“Its dangerous especially when you’re using stairs,” warned Babyjane Juliet, who’s keeping her bloomers on because she’s wearing a short skirt.

“Oh. Men are getting excited about No Panty Day – same ones that won’t see any evidence of it,” teased

More modest Twitter users, however, are saying knickers to No Panty Day. “I do not believe it is world no panty day. I need proof,” demanded Gabe Mercado.

Daily Chilli checked about and there’s nothing on Wikipedia about leaving your panties in your drawers.

We suspect it’s just men’s way of getting even for No Pants Day, where guys spend the day outside without their trousers. You know, as opposed to sitting inside on the couch all night watching football on TV in their underwear.

And ladies, think of it as one less item for the laundry. Can’t say pants to that!

Published: 22nd June 2012

Using a condom should be a habit... like wearing a bike helmet.Using a condom should be a habit… like wearing a bike helmet.

Ever wonder what it would be like to sleep with a mean film director, a socialite or the guy who does the voice-over in movie trailers, or perhaps with one of your Facebook friends?

As part of a new safe-sex initiative, the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control (SMI) has launched an app called Provligget, or Test Nooky, allowing you to do just that.

“The focus is on condom use. We’re trying to get this issue on the agenda,” explained Karin Raagsjoe, who came up with the idea for the app.

The app allows users to “test sex” with a range of fantasy characters, from a personal trainer, to an unfaithful woman, to a handyman, all portrayed by more or less famous Swedish actors. Once users make their choice, they’re asked if they want to use a condom, and then to record their own moaning and groaning, which is then mixed with the sexually elated voice of their character of choice.

The whole time, messages pop up to ask things like: “Did you know that people who suggest using a condom are seen as confident and considerate?” and “Did you know Swedes are among the worst in the world at using a condom?”

If none of the 11 characters tickle your fancy, you can also choose to send a request to one of your Facebook friends asking if they’re up for a test fling.

“The two of you can then mix your voices together,” Raagsjoe told AFP, insisting the app was a fun way to raise awareness and get people to visit the knulldeluxe.se website, which for instance provides condom-use tips and information on where to get tested for sexually transmittable diseases.

“Swedes are bad at using condoms,” she said, pointing out that studies showed that as few as 40 percent of Swedes used protection. According to SMI, gonorrhoea infections in Sweden increased 13 percent last year compared to 2010, while chlamydia infections were also on the rise, and the number of new HIV infections remains stubbornly high with 465 cases last year.

Raagsjoe said the new app was aimed to get young people thinking and talking about their sex habits. “It’s really hard to reach this group with the message of condom use,” she said, pointing out that young people often don’t grasp the dire consequences of risking sex without a condom.

“And people are also a bit shy. In the north we’re known for being open about sex, but it’s still hard to bring up the issue of using a condom,” she said, stressing that “it’s very intimate, and it can be hard if you don’t make it a habit… sort of like wearing a bike helmet”.

Source: Relaxnews

Balotelli outscores Rooney

Hooker Jenny Thompson reveals Mario Balotelli outscores Wayne Rooney in the bedroom.

Jenny, 23, who has bedded both strikers, said: “Wayne may be the better footballer but when it comes to performance off the pitch Mario beats him in every way.”

Thompson revealed Balotelli partied and romped with her until nearly 5am — then went training with Manchester City after just three hours’ sleep.

Jenny, famous for having a threesome with Rooney, told how she and Balotelli drank champagne by a pool at his home until the early hours.

Then he took her to his bedroom for passionate sex.

Jenny said: “Mario has a fantastic body and knows exactly how to satisfy a woman.”

Her revelation will infuriate City manager Roberto Mancini, who has been angered by the Italian striker’s recent lacklustre efforts in training and during Premier League matches.

Balotelli’s performances on the pitch may be erratic — but Jenny said he’s always man of the match in the bedroom.

She added: “I’d give him a 9.5 out of 10 for the sex.

“Mario is funny, intelligent and a gentleman in the bedroom. He’s a brilliant kisser.”

Jenny met Balotelli five times during a six-week fling and they slept together twice — behind the back of his girlfriend Raffaella Fico.

The 21-year-old striker began wooing Jenny after he and a pal pulled up in his white Bentley alongside her friend’s car as it sat at traffic lights on February 19.

21st February

Balotelli trains after early hours booze and sex with Jennifer

They arranged to meet the following night at a meal Balotelli was hosting at a Manchester Indian restaurant for brother Enoch’s 19th birthday. When Jenny arrived Balotelli was sitting drinking with pals. A large bottle of Grey Goose vodka was on their table.

She said: “When I walked into the restaurant he didn’t make a massive fuss. He looked fit.

“At that stage the only interaction was flirty eyes between us.”

But when Jenny went to the toilet she came out of the cubicle to find Balotelli standing outside.

She said: “He’d obviously followed me and had a smirk on his face.

“I said ‘Oh hello, what are you doing here?’ He said he had just come to say ‘Hi’ and asked me what I was planning to do after.

“Then he asked if I wanted to go back to his for a party. I said OK. Then he leaned in for our first kiss. It was a nice kiss and he was quite gentlemanly. He didn’t try and get me in the cubicle or anything.”

Balotelli, Enoch and friends left the restaurant at 1am and Jenny and her pal followed him to his house in Alderley Edge, Cheshire.

23rd February

They have sex after Balotelli tells Jennifer he has a lover.

He says: ‘I’ve only cheated on her two or three times’

She said: “We got in the pool and had champagne. I stripped to my white French knickers and bra and the boys stripped to boxers. Mario got some red swimming shorts.”

Balotelli and Jenny then cuddled up on a sofa by the pool — and he questioned the former escort girl about her infamous threesome with Manchester United striker Rooney.

She said: “He asked me about the Wayne thing. He didn’t say anything bad about Rooney. He didn’t pass judgment.

“You’d think most blokes wouldn’t want to sleep with the same woman one of their mates or colleagues had but to be honest Mario seemed to love the fact I’d slept with Wayne.

“He obviously knew about my past but wasn’t put off by it at all.

“He kept flirting with me as I was laying on his lap. Then we got in the pool and kissed for ages.”

At about 4.30am Balotelli got out of the water and said he needed to be up for training the next day. She said: “He looked at me and I followed him and we went upstairs and got in bed.”

Jenny, who has slept with 100 men, reckons Balotelli is in her top ten lovers. She added: “He was caring and tender. After we made love he cuddled me. He didn’t make me feel cheap like other men.”

It was about 5am before they finally got to sleep. Balotelli was up three hours later.

Jenny said: “In the morning we had to get up at about 8am. He said, ‘I need to go to training but you can’t come in my car’.” Jenny knew nothing at this stage of Balotelli’s Italian girlfriend Raffaella — and believed she and the City star might become an item.

25th February

Mario reveals his love for Rafaella with this T-shirt

She said: “I thought he was single and we might end up seeing quite a bit of each other.

“It was very different to when I met Wayne because I was being paid to have sex with him. With Mario I thought we may have a future.”

Jenny saw Balotelli again two days later when he invited her to Manchester’s Sakura nightclub.

They partied in the club’s VIP area before he left early, saying he had training the next day. But at 3.30am he was back at the club — returning to pick Jenny up and take her to his home.

Once there, Jenny got a nasty shock — when he confessed about Raffaella. She said: “We sat by the pool. He said something about ‘My girlfriend’ and I said ‘Sorry, what?’

“I went mad at him. He said ‘I thought you knew’ and I said ‘No, I had no idea.’ He could see I was really p****d off.

“It got quite late so we went to bed. I got into his bed and was being quite cold. He said, ‘I’ve only ever cheated on my girlfriend twice or three times’. “I said, ‘Well done. You obviously don’t love her or you wouldn’t cheat on her’.

“He said, ‘No I do love her’ but he was kind of stuck for words. But then he started canoodling again and we had make-up sex, which is often the best.”

Two days later on February 25 Balotelli publicly declared his love for Raffaella. He lifted up his City shirt after scoring to show a message in Italian which read “Raffaella, I love you.”

Jenny last spoke to Balotelli on March 13 — at her 23rd birthday party at Tiger Tiger nightclub. She said: “Mario ordered all my friends downstairs. He said ‘I have come out for your birthday. The only reason I’m here is to see you for your birthday.’

“I thought that was really sweet but it was the last time I spoke to him. I never saw him again.”

Jenny kept the relationship secret until she learned Balotelli’s agent had admitted the player had a “brief involvement” with her.

She decided to speak out when his legal team suggested she tried to blackmail the player into paying hush money – a claim she denies.

Jenny, who sent Balotelli a picture of herself in a white bikini during their fling, said: “I don’t dislike or hate Mario. I have no bad feelings towards him.

“The only reason I am speaking out about Mario is because I don’t want people thinking I targeted him. He did all the running.”

13th March

Jennifer sees Mario for the last time during her birthday party at the Tiger Tiger night spot

Model Raffaella is said to be heartbroken over the fling.

But Jenny said: “The fact that Mario has come out and admitted our relationship proves to me he wants to make a go of it with her.

“This way they have solid ground to move on from. Good luck to them. I think they’ll work it out.”

Jenny now hopes to open a beauty salon — and finally put her notorious past behind her. In 2010 Jenny told how Rooney slipped away from pregnant wife Colleen for £1,200-a-night threesomes with her and a hooker pal.

Jenny, who has also been linked to footballers Jack Rodwell and Kevin Nolan and boxer Amir Khan, said: “I know I will always have a bad reputation about Wayne. But I am just a normal girl looking for love.”

Source: http://www.thesun.co.uk

A 46-year-old tuition teacher was caught taking upskirt videos of his female students in Hong Kong.

The married tutor, surnamed Chung, a graduate from a London university took the videos with his cellphone and a pen camera.

Police also found several pairs of panties his backpack and 70 upskirt videos in his computer.

Chung was charged with committing the offences at his tuition centre, located on the fifth floor of a commercial complex in Mong Kok, between April and May last year.

He pleaded guilty to four counts of access to computer with dishonest intent at Kwun Tong Law Courts.

The court slapped him with a HK$20,000 fine (RM7,890).

Source: Oriental Daily, HK

SUSAN Dhliwayo tergamam ketika dia memberhentikan keretanya kerana ikhlas mahu menumpangkan sekumpulan pengembara lelaki baru-baru ini tetapi mereka menolak pelawaannya. Puncanya adalah kerana lelaki itu bimbang akan dirogol.

Zimbabwe kini digemparkan dengan laporan sensasi bahawa terdapat geng wanita cantik merogol beberapa pengembara lelaki dan meletakkan sperma mereka di dalam kondom bagi tujuan ilmu hitam.

Sekarang ini, lelaki takut kepada wanita,” kata Dhliwayo yang berusia 19 tahun.

Menurutnya, para pengembara tidak akan menaiki kereta yang dipandu wanita kerana mereka tidak mempercayai lagi kaum Hawa itu.

Media Zimbabwe sebelum ini melaporkan beberapa lelaki yang ditemui di lebuh raya telah diberi ubat tidur, diugut dengan menggunakan pistol atau pisau dan diberikan ubat perangsang seks sebelum mereka dirogol berulang kali dan ditinggalkan di tepi jalan.

Berita tentang kumpulan perogol itu yang digelar ‘pemburu sperma’, pertama kali disiarkan di dada akhbar tempatan pada tahun 2009.

Namun, sehingga kini, polis hanya berjaya menangkap tiga wanita yang ditahan bersama satu beg plastik berisi 31 kondom terpakai. Mereka didakwa kerana memperkosa 17 lelaki.

Tiga orang yang ditangkap itu terdiri daripada Sophie Nhokwara, 26 dan adiknya, Netsai, 24, serta Rosemary Chakwizira, 28.

“Kami tidak tahu jumlah sebenar kes rogol seperti ini,” kata jurucakap polis, Wayne Bvudzijena.

“Kebanyakan kes ini berlaku apabila mangsa menumpang kenderaan persendirian. Kami menggalakkan orang ramai agar menggunakan kenderaan awam.”

Menurutnya, tujuan sperma itu diambil si mangsa masih tidak jelas tetapi ia dipercayai digunakan dalam amalan sihir yang dikenali sebagai ‘juju’ atau upacara membawa tuah termasuk bagi tujuaan mendatangkan kekayaan, melariskan perniagaan dan mengelak penjenayah daripada dikesan.

“Isu ini sukar untuk difahami,” kata pakar sosiologi Universiti Zimbabwe, Watch Ruparanganda.

“Apa yang jelas sperma ini digunakan dalam upacara ilmu hitam,” tambahnya.

Ruparanganda berkata, beliau hairan apabila mendapati sperma menjadi barangan komoditi ketika dia sedang melakukan kajian sosial di Harare tujuh tahun lalu.

Dia diberitahu oleh remaja jalanan bahawa ahli-ahli perniagaan akan membawa mereka ke hotel bagi tujuan seks.

Seorang pemuda berusia 24 tahun, Tende Marahu turut mengesahkan perkara tersebut.

Menurutnya, beberapa lelaki dan wanita datang untuk mengambil lelaki di kawasan kejiranannya bagi mendapatkan sperma yang dikumpulkan dalam kondom selepas mereka melakukan hubungan seks.

“Perkara ini telah lama berlaku,” katanya.

Amalan songsang tersebut turut dikecam Persatuan Pengamal Perubatan Tradisonal Zimbabwe.

“Kami percaya amalan ini adalah sihir dan kami mengecamnya,” kata jurucakap persatuan berkenaan, George Kandiyero.

Menurutnya, pemburu sperma tidak akan mengambil sperma kekasih atau suami mereka untuk upacara juju kerana ia boleh memudaratkan lelaki itu. – AFP

FOLLOWING the success of her book, Mistresses Play, Men Stray, The Wives Stay, top Filipino author Jullie Yap-Daza shares her though-provoking views on just how sweet forbidden fruit really is.

What is the difference between a girlfriend and a mistress? The difference is financial. Girlfriends are independent and can assert their independence by spending their own money. If you’re totally dependent, that’s it.

You’ve talked to a lot of mistresses. Can you tell us one particularly memorable story?

There was one woman who never called herself a mistress. She used the word ‘playmate’ to describe her relationship with the man, who was then married.

When the man and his wife got a divorce, he asked her to marry him, but she refused. She said they were only playmates. She knows she will never marry the man.

And then the woman also became the victim of a mistress. It turns out her husband was also seeing another woman. That’s what made her stop seeing her playmate. She said she didn’t want a place in hell.

Did she believe it was a sin?

For 25 years the woman did not take communion, and everyone kept asking her why. Finally one night, she told her story to her parish priest, over dinner. The priest gave her an absolution and called her story “a beautiful love story.”

I know a devout Catholic went to the priest to ask for forgiveness because of adultery. The priest said she couldn’t be forgiven because the affair was still ongoing.

Who is the most successful mistress? A lot. These are the women who are recognized by the man’s family and accepted by society.

Are mistresses happy? I think so. Why would they stay? Even without marriage? Mistresses should know it will never happen.

Why won’t some husbands ever leave their wives? These men want to be in their comfort zone. A place where they are on familiar ground, and there is no need to uproot one’s self or learn new rules.

They’re in a place where they are used to the house help, and they know where the bathroom is. They know the bad side of their wives and they know how to dominate them.

Men want to have their cake and eat it, too. It is very rare for a Filipino man to leave his first wife to marry his mistress.

Why do men need mistresses? I asked that question in the Rotary Club. A Canadian man said, “You know why we do it? We do it ‘cause we can get away with it.” It’s the forbidden fruit. The allure of mistresses in the shadows, that’s her mystery.

A man I know also said, “It’s nice to wake up with a beautiful face beside me.”

At one point in a woman’s life she has to choose whether she wants to keep her face or her figure. When a woman is thin her face is compromised, it’s sunken. But if she wants a younger-looking face with no wrinkles that means she has to choose to be fat. It’s hard to be a woman.

So it’s normal to have a mistress? Yes. Even taxi drivers have mistresses. During a marriage, the husband and wife can experience a sexual death. The wife bears children, finds other sources of fulfillment, her body gets bigger that is when men look for others. But you’ll be surprised. A lot of mistresses are not as pretty or as accomplished as the wife.

Why is this so?

Because mistresses don’t argue. Here’s a quote from Jun Cruz: “At the end of the day I don’t need a bright woman to argue with, I just want a pretty girl who will shut up when she needs to shut up.”

Men want somebody, someone who is low-maintenance emotionally. Men who have reached their Viagra stage especially lose a lot of confidence, and need women who try to restore it.

I know of a heterosexual, not bisexual, man who left his wife and kids for a transsexual, even if he knew she underwent a sex change. The transsexual told me it had nothing to do with sex. She simply fulfilled all his psychological needs.

(Source:  Philippine Daily Inquirer)

ISU mengenai anak luar nikah sering kali dipaparkan media hari demi hari. Ramai yang menganggap faktor ini biasa, malah tercetusnya idea untuk sekolah untuk anak luar nikah yang menjadi kesimpulan bagi apa yang dikhabarkan.

Persoalannya di sini, apakah ia banyak memberi manfaat yang baik atau sebaliknya pada jangka masa yang lebih panjang?

Jika kita lihat pada arak, ia diharamkan Islam kerana banyaknya kemudaratan daripada manfaat.

Jika sekolah untuk anak luar nikah ditubuhkan, apa manfaat yang kita boleh lihat dan kesannya adakah banyak ke arah positif atau negatif?

Pandangan manusia berbeza-beza, bagaimanapun, adakah wajar bagi kita melabel seorang individu seterusnya membuatkan masyarakat memandang serong pada anak-anak yang tidak bersalah ini.

Secara zahirnya, jika dilihat daripada sudut prosedurnya, ia mudah memasukkan anak yang tidak berbin atau binti ke sekolah khas untuk golongan ini, namun ini memberi persepsi yang buruk kepada masyarakat yang sering terdedah dengan perzinaan yang dianggap perkara biasa terutama di kalangan remaja.

Jumlah statistik anak luar nikah yang semakin menjadi-jadi dari hari ke hari bukan lagi menjadi tabu yang patut dirisaukan.

Malah, jumlah yang terlalu ramai memberi peluang kepada remaja yang berkecimpung dalam aktiviti tidak bermoral ini meletakkan anak mereka nanti pada tempat yang sudah disediakan.

Sikap malu pada Allah untuk melakukan maksiat akan terhalang daripada melakukannya.

Namun, apabila sikap malu sudah ditarik sedikit demi sedikit, semakin banyak maksiat dilakukan.

Kesimpulannya, kita perlu melihat sesuatu yang berlaku dengan melihat kepada punca akarnya supaya segala-galanya boleh dibanteras.

Kita perlu mengetahui peranan kita iaitu mengapa kita diciptakan di dunia ini dengan lebih serius memikirkan masalah akhlak yang semakin runtuh dalam masyarakat kita.

Akibat terlalu banyak hiburan, manusia akan lebih mudah leka, malah semakin ligat melakukan maksiat tanpa menyedari kesan buruk pada masa akan datang.

MASHAVA, Zimbabwe – Susan Dhliwayo tergamam ketika dia memberhentikan keretanya kerana ikhlas mahu menumpangkan sekumpulan pengembara lelaki baru-baru ini tetapi mereka menolak pelawaannya.

DUA beradik, Sophie Nhokwara, (kiri) dan Netsai (kanan) serta Rosemary (dua dari kanan) yang berdepan dakwaan menyerang 17 pengembara lelaki, berjalan di luar sebuah mahkamah di Harare, Zimbabwe pada 29 November tahun lalu.

Puncanya adalah kerana lelaki itu bimbang akan dirogol.

Zimbabwe kini digemparkan dengan laporan sensasi bahawa terdapat geng wanita cantik merogol beberapa pengembara lelaki dan meletakkan sperma mereka di dalam kondom bagi tujuan ilmu hitam.

“Sekarang ini, lelaki takut kepada wanita,” kata Dhliwayo yang berusia 19 tahun.

Menurutnya, para pengembara tidak akan menaiki kereta yang dipandu wanita kerana mereka tidak mempercayai lagi kaum Hawa itu.

Media Zimbabwe sebelum ini melaporkan beberapa lelaki yang ditemui di lebuh raya telah diberi ubat tidur, diugut dengan menggunakan pistol atau pisau dan diberikan ubat perangsang seks sebelum mereka dirogol berulang kali dan ditinggalkan di tepi jalan.

Berita tentang kumpulan perogol itu yang digelar ‘pemburu sperma’, pertama kali disiarkan di dada akhbar tempatan pada tahun 2009.

Namun, sehingga kini, polis hanya berjaya menangkap tiga wanita yang ditahan bersama satu beg plastik berisi 31 kondom terpakai. Mereka didakwa kerana memperkosa 17 lelaki.

Tiga orang yang ditangkap itu terdiri daripada Sophie Nhokwara, 26 dan adiknya, Netsai, 24, serta Rosemary Chakwizira, 28.

“Kami tidak tahu jumlah sebenar kes rogol seperti ini,” kata jurucakap polis, Wayne Bvudzijena.

“Kebanyakan kes ini berlaku apabila mangsa menumpang kenderaan persendirian. Kami menggalakkan orang ramai agar menggunakan kenderaan awam.”

Menurutnya, tujuan sperma itu diambil si mangsa masih tidak jelas tetapi ia dipercayai digunakan dalam amalan sihir yang dikenali sebagai ‘juju’ atau upacara membawa tuah termasuk bagi tujuaan mendatangkan kekayaan, melariskan perniagaan dan mengelak penjenayah daripada dikesan.

“Isu ini sukar untuk difahami,” kata pakar sosiologi Universiti Zimbabwe, Watch Ruparanganda.

“Apa yang jelas sperma ini digunakan dalam upacara ilmu hitam,” tambahnya.

Ruparanganda berkata, beliau hairan apabila mendapati sperma menjadi barangan komoditi ketika dia sedang melakukan kajian sosial di Harare tujuh tahun lalu.

Dia diberitahu oleh remaja jalanan bahawa ahli-ahli perniagaan akan membawa mereka ke hotel bagi tujuan seks.

Seorang pemuda berusia 24 tahun, Tende Marahu turut mengesahkan perkara tersebut.

Menurutnya, beberapa lelaki dan wanita datang untuk mengambil lelaki di kawasan kejiranannya bagi mendapatkan sperma yang dikumpulkan dalam kondom selepas mereka melakukan hubungan seks.

“Perkara ini telah lama berlaku,” katanya.

Amalan songsang tersebut turut dikecam Persatuan Pengamal Perubatan Tradisonal Zimbabwe.

“Kami percaya amalan ini adalah sihir dan kami mengecamnya,” kata jurucakap persatuan berkenaan, George Kandiyero.

Menurutnya, pemburu sperma tidak akan mengambil sperma kekasih atau suami mereka untuk upacara juju kerana ia boleh memudaratkan lelaki itu. – AFP

Children’s safety is of utmost importance, especially in today’s world.

ANOTHER tragic story of a child whose charred remains were found a week after she went missing. Five-year-old Nurul Nadirah Abdullah, of Johor, was last seen on March 1 when her family sent her out to buy eggs and instant noodles from a sundry shop near their flats.

Again, it’s a chilling reminder to all, especially parents, that children need to be safe at all times. The issue of their safety should be a top priority for all families.

Children under the age of six should have constant adult supervision while the older primary school-going ones should be taught home-alone skills before they become latchkey kids.

Parental vigilance: Nurul Nadirah Abdullah’s mother Roselyn Alan being consoled by her husband and the girl’s stepfather Lima Medeng in Johor on March 5. With the child’s brutal killing, Malaysians are once again reminded of the pressing need to protect their children against potential harm.

Sadly, I have seen young children running on the streets or crossing busy roads by themselves, oblivious to the potential dangers around them. Then there are parents who nip out to buy a thing or two after they double-park their car, leaving its engine running and their young children inside the vehicle.

There are also those who leave their sleeping child alone in the house while they go out to attend a neighbourhood meeting.

A parent once asked me how to stop his two-year-old from playing with the hairdryer plugged into the wall. I told him to unplug it and store it in a shelf where his child would not be able to reach. One important aspect of children’s safety is to childproof your home according to the kid’s development.

Our children are exposed to all kinds of danger even at home. There are more electrical appliances, household cleaning detergents and medication in our homes than ever before. Parents need to be vigilant when it comes to keeping children safe.

Domestic helpers are not reliable in discerning what is safe or not for young children. They usually take orders from their employers – you. Many do not know how to handle emergencies or have the faintest idea on the kind of precautionary steps to take to prevent home accidents.

It is really up to parents themselves to ensure that the home is safe for their young children and their careprovider adheres to the safety rules at all times.

Preschoolers like to play in the car porch. There has been an increasing number of fatal accidents involving cars backing into or moving out of the porch. Designate a place outside the house where children can play, away from moving vehicles. If need be, place a barrier to prevent children from reaching the main porch area. Be alert to the happenings around your house.

Before taking your children to the neighbourhood park, do carry out a safety check. There may be safety rules in the playgrounds but many people choose to ignore them. The rule of allowing only children under 12 years old to use playground equipment is definitely one that is rarely followed. I have seen young adults sitting on swings and climbing the monkey bars. Look out for loose screws, nails and glass pieces lying about, left by those who have no consideration for others.

When you are in the park with your children, beware of individuals who are hanging around without any children. There may also be those who do their exercise routines near the children when they should be in their own section.

Always remind your children not to talk to strangers. Tell them if anyone approaches them in the park, they can only speak to them when a parent is nearby.

Keep a list of names of people whom you can leave your child with when there is an emergency and you have to leave the house urgently. People whom you and your child, especially of a young age, can rely on for care on short notice are very important.

When my girls were very young, I used to exchange babysitting hours with my friend Jing Ai. One evening, she got a call from her father who asked about his granddaughters. She told him that they were with me. The doting grandfather was worried because he did not know who I was. My friend reassured him: “Oh, you can trust her. She is in the papers.”

To my beloved readers, I bid farewell to you as this is my last article for Childwise. Since 1993, I have been “in the papers” sharing ideas and thoughts on children and parenting. Now, I’d like to wish you every happiness and joy in being parents, caregivers and teachers of young children.

Source: The Star – Ruth Liew