feel safe and protected

English translation: unthreatened vs protected from a threat

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	feel safe and protected
Selected answer:	unthreatened vs protected from a threat
Entered by:	B D Finch

15:54 Oct 21, 2019

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Social Sciences - Psychology / questionnaire about childhood experiences of parents

English term or phrase: feel safe and protected

Dear colleagues,
I have some problems in understanding the difference between “feel safe” and “feel protected” in the following questions.. What might be the difference between question 1 (feel safe) and question 2 (feel protected)?
I’ve found the following distinction, but I’m not sure it applies to my context, because both sentences are about “feeling safe/feeling protected…)

"As nouns the difference between protection and safety is that protection is the process of keeping (something or someone) safe while safety is the condition or feeling of being safe; security; certainty.-"

https://wikidiff.com/protection/safety

I'll make an attempt: maybe, in the first case, parents create a general sense of safety, while in the second case, they actively protect the child from actual dangers?

Thank you very much in advance for any hint!

*************

Here are a few questions to help you get clearer on those experiences, and how they might be playing out now that you’re a parent:

1. In what ways did your parents or other caregivers help you ** feel safe **? In what ways did you not feel safe? Think about your physical, emotional, and relational experiences.

2. Did you ** feel protected ** by your parents? In what ways did they do a good job of protecting you? In what ways did they fail?

haribert KudoZ activity Questions: 289 (1 open) (1 without valid answers) (1 closed without grading) Answers: 524
Local time: 04:39

unthreatened vs protected from a threat

Explanation:
I think that the difference is that when a child feels safe it doesn't feel conscious of any threat; whereas, when a child feels protected it is conscious of a threat but feels that something or someone is protecting it against that threat.

For example, I used to walk home from primary school via a spinney, where I'd pick blackberries in the autumn. I felt safe doing that because I had no consciousness of any threat or danger. Now, that spinney has been turned into a boring, sterile little park, surrounded by fencing, probably in an endeavour to protect children against dangers they might encounter walking through a wild little bit of woodland. A child walking there holding their parent's hand, after having been warned that dangerous men lurk behind trees, ready to pounce on lone children, would feel protected.

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Note added at 18 hrs (2019-10-22 10:22:11 GMT)
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So, a feeling of safety provides a certain freedom that a feeling of protection doesn't.

Selected response from:

B D Finch
France
Local time: 04:39

Grading comment

Dear colleagues,
this time it was even harder than usual to choose one answer over the others, because I think they complete each other. That’s why I wish to thank you all very, very much.
A special thanks to Ms Finch for her useful contribution!

4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +2

differences

Yvonne Gallagher

4 +1

safe - no threat, protected - you are safe from any possible threats

Nadyiia Derkach

4 +1

unthreatened vs protected from a threat

B D Finch

safety vs protection

Katya Kesten

Summary of reference entries provided

see

liz askew

Answers

7 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

safe - no threat, protected - you are safe from any possible threats

Explanation:
The way I understand the difference "safe" is when you feel there is no denger /threat for your wellbeing (physical/psychological/spiritual, etc)
"protected" - is when somebody is ready to help or actively intervene in the situation in case anything goes wrong.

Nadyiia Derkach
Ukraine
Local time: 05:39
Native speaker of:

Russian,

Ukrainian

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you very much, Nadyiia, for your contribution!

12 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

differences

Explanation:
I think you have the general idea here:

parents create a general sense of safety, i.e. provide a safe place to live, out of danger (whether from people, the environment, tensions, etc. etc.) so the child doesn't have any fear

while in the second case, they actively protect the child from actual dangers?

e.g. don't them them out on their own when small, talk to strangers etc., don't let them watch some stuff on TV, actively protect them from internet dangers, check constantly they are not being intimidated or bullied,...

so many ways a parent can "protect" a child.

And why some parents are seen as "over-protective" if they wrap thweir child in cotton wool, shield them from everything nasty in the world, give their child no freedom to explore and make their own mistakes...

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Note added at 14 mins (2019-10-21 16:08:51 GMT)
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typo 2nd last line: their

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Note added at 18 mins (2019-10-21 16:13:25 GMT)
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So yes to making a child feel safe and actively protecting them but no to going too far with that protection.

thttps://www.verywellfamily.com/avoid-being-an-overprotective...

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Note added at 22 mins (2019-10-21 16:17:26 GMT)
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https://www.verywellfamily.com/helicopter-parents-do-they-he...
and I like this from the link above about various types of parenting

Here's an example of how parents in each parenting style might respond to a child's request to walk to the store alone:

Helicopter parent: "Sure, I'll walk behind you the whole way to make sure you stay safe."
Free-range parent: "Sure. Can you pick up some milk while you're there?"

Lawnmower parent: "Sure, I'll walk ahead of you and make sure it's safe. I'll tell you when it's safe to cross the road."

Tiger parent: "No, you need to practice your violin for another hour."

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Note added at 1 hr (2019-10-21 16:57:43 GMT)
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yes, it's very difficult to strike a balance and many Western parents these days tend towards being over-protective and/or constantly micro-managing every detail of their children's lives.

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 03:39
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 65

Notes to answerer

Asker: Hi, Yvonne! Thank you so much for your help!

Asker: Thank you, Yvonne, for the useful link: how difficult it must be, however, to strike the right balance!!

18 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

unthreatened vs protected from a threat

B D Finch
France
Local time: 04:39
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8

Grading comment

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you so much, Ms Finch, for your really interesting contribution!

1 day 1 hr confidence:

safety vs protection

Explanation:
Simplest way I can think of putting it:

Feeling safe is not feeling like someone (or something) may try/actually succeed in harming you. Safety is a state of being/condition.

Feeling protected is feeling safe due to someone (or something).

The link I left has an interesting, and more thorough, take on these concepts and also talks about "security".

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Note added at 1 day 22 hrs (2019-10-23 14:54:42 GMT)
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Whoops, sorry about that!
Here it is: http://www.differencebetween.net/language/words-language/dif...

Example sentence(s):

http://www.differencebetween.net/language/words-lang

Katya Kesten
Local time: 21:39
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you very much, Katya, for your contribution! unfortunately the link doesn't seem to work...

Asker: Thank you very much!

Reference comments

3 mins peer agreement (net): +3

Reference: see

Reference information:
http://fosteringperspectives.org/fpv17n2/psychological-safet...

A Universal Experience
Safe can be defined as free from harm or hurt. So, feeling safe means you do not anticipate either harm or hurt, emotionally or physically.

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Note added at 6 mins (2019-10-21 16:01:17 GMT)
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https://www.dictionary.com › browse › protect
Protect definition, to defend or guard from attack, invasion, loss, annoyance, insult, etc.; cover or shield from injury or danger. See more.

liz askew
United Kingdom
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Note to reference poster

Asker: Thank you so much, Liz, for your useful reference!

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