A Child Adviser Orienteering Held

By Gu Li

Guided by the District Work Committee for Women and Children, 15 child advisers from Quyang Road Sub-district gathered at Hongkou Quyang Bailian Shopping Center for one-day child adviser orienteering on August 27, to take challenges of "Safety Publicists", "Environmental Discoverers", "Children's Interest Explorers" and other items, and to find child-friendly elements based on children's perspective in the Shopping Center from a variety of angles.

To learn about the safety measures in the Shopping Center during the orienteering

In order to enhance children's understanding of fire safety in the Shopping Center, the firemen gave a wonderful lecture to the child advisers who put on fireman uniforms. Afterwards, the advisers understood the level of safety measures in the Shopping Center through on-site observation and interviews with tourists and stores. For example, the advisers saw that the sharp objects in the children's recreation area, like the corners of tables and cabinets, were pasted with sponges, which truly reduces the chance that children get hurt.

Moreover, the advisers read out the "Tips for Children's Safety" in the Shopping Center with a loud speaker to further provide safety education for children and their parents, thus enabling them to contribute to the safety publicity and education in the Shopping Center, publicizing the child-friendly concept, and performing the advisers’ duties.

To develop child-friendly shopping malls with multiple elements

Children-friendly shopping malls should offer children a safe and comfortable environment, and consider whether the environmental design and layout meet children’s cognitive development and aesthetic characteristics, or whether the design of activities and the layout of shops meet children’s characteristics and needs.

In the Shopping Center, bright walls and lively pin-up pictures attract the advisers; and even the safety notices on the floor are in shape of cartoon images. Among them, the burro-shaped notice on "Never Get Lost", and the cat-claw-shaped guide arrows are popular among the advisers. In addition, the Shopping Center sets up family restrooms, in which cartoon mural paintings, children's toilets, and hand washing tables are well-received by parents.

In addition to offering child-friendly events, the F3 atrium in the Shopping Center has recreational facilities, including Capsule Toys, Smashing Toys and climbing, to meet the needs of children at different ages. Besides, the child-friendly elements brighten up the Shopping Center.

After one-day observation, the advisers think that the Shopping Center is very child-friendly. Using the colors that children like, the Shopping Center holds colorful activities to meets children's needs and expectations, protects children meticulously, and offers them a safe and comfortable environment, so that they can have fun and their parents can too.

From a children's perspective, the advisers believed during the orienteering that the Shopping Center has contributed to building Shanghai into a child-friendly city. The District Work Committee for Women and Children expects that the advisers co-work to issue a proposal for child-friendly environment from a children's perspective, thus contributing to the construction of the Shopping Center and community affairs.

Moreover, Hongkou will build a platform for children, and listen to their inner voice in a bid to respect and help more children.