Ever since Prithviraj Sukumaran became a father, he feels his responsibilities have doubled. The Malayalam actor no longer moves through the world with the ease he did before. Instead, he has become more aware of society’s state of affairs and what it means to raise children today.While promoting his latest movie Daayra, which revolves around the disappearance and death of a young girl, Sukumaran shared during a media interaction: “I have a daughter, eleven years old. I’m at that uncomfortable stage as a parent where I have to start talking to her and letting her know about what is safe, what is unsafe. If we lived in an ideal world, I would never have had that conversation. But we don’t live in an ideal world.”DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to.“But what we can do as citizens is talk to our children. And make no mistake, the conversation should not just be to your girl children. It should also be to your boy children. I strongly believe that if at all, there is an extra ounce of responsibility on any side, it is with us, the men,” Sukumaran further added.Talking to kids about their safetyCounselling psychologist Athul Raj says that safety education works best when it becomes part of the parent-child relationship, rather than being reduced to a list of rules. He says that these conversations can begin early and change as the child grows.“With younger children, it can be about bodily autonomy, personal boundaries, being able to say no to unwanted touch and knowing which adults they can approach if something feels wrong. As they get older, the conversation can move towards consent, peer pressure, relationships, coercion and online safety,” he tells indianexpress.com.Two-way streetEqually important is how a parent responds when a child shares something uncomfortable.Story continues below this adRaj says that children don’t always come with a clear explanation. “They may say, ‘I didn’t like what happened’, become withdrawn, or suddenly feel uncomfortable around a particular person without being able to explain why,” he says, adding that if a parent’s first response is anger, panic or questions like, ‘Why didn’t you stop them?’, the child may begin to associate speaking up with getting into trouble.“From a psychological perspective, that can make future disclosure much harder. The first response should be to listen, reassure and help the child feel safe enough to continue talking,” Raj stresses. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Buzzzooka Prime (@buzzzookaprime)In the Indian context…The psychologist adds that parents also need to be careful about how safety is taught to girls, particularly in India.“A lot of safety advice still focuses on where girls go, what they wear, when they come home and whom they speak to. Some precautions are necessary, but we should not allow that to become the child’s understanding of responsibility,” he shares. In addition, Raj believes that a girl being careful does not give her control over another person’s behaviour, and “if someone violates her boundaries, the responsibility lies with the person who chose to do so”.ALSO READ | Alia Bhatt’s ‘mom brain’ shift: Why she stopped sitting in the front seat after motherhoodBoys need to be part of these conversations as well.Story continues below this adRaj informs parents that boy children need to learn about consent, boundaries, empathy, respecting refusal, accepting rejection and understanding personal space. “These aren’t lessons that should suddenly begin when a boy starts dating. They are part of how children learn to relate to other people,” he reiterates.Finally, Raj says that the purpose of such conversations isn’t to make children suspicious or frightened of everyone around them. It is to give them a healthy awareness of risk while helping them trust their own discomfort.“Most importantly, they should know that if something does happen, they have an adult they can come to without first worrying about being blamed, questioned or shamed,” he adds.DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to.