On Wednesday 20 of October Jim Davis of the Children’s Society came to speak to parishioners. This very useful talk was set up originally by Father Jim, and we are grateful to him, Mother Emma and Diana Finning for organising the event.
The Children’s Society was founded in 1881 by Preb Edward Rudolf, supported by Archbishop Archibald Tait and has remained allied to the Church of England ever since. The society reaches out to those forgotten children who face danger or disadvantage in their daily lives; children who are unable to find the help or understanding they need anywhere else.
Basing their work on the Christian principles of love, justice and forgiveness, they support children in trouble with the law, young runaways at risk on the street, disabled children who face exclusion and young refugees rebuilding their lives in the UK.
Jim’s talk focused on the results of The Good Childhood Enquiry. This was launched in September 2006 as the UK’s first independent national inquiry into childhood. Its aims were to renew society’s understanding of modern childhood and to inform, improve and inspire all our relationships with children.
The inquiry report, A Good Childhood, says that most of the obstacles children face today are linked to the belief among adults that the prime duty of the individual is to make the most of their own life, rather than contribute to the good of others. It goes on to say that excessive individualism is causing a range of problems for children including: high family break-up, teenage unkindness, commercial pressures towards premature sexualisation, unprincipled advertising, too much competition in education and acceptance of income inequality.The report says that although freedom and self-determination bring many blessings, the balance has tilted too far towards individualism in Britain.
The report made the following recommendations:
Parents should:
• Make a long term commitment to each other.
• Be fully informed about what is involved before their child is born.
• Love their children, each other and establish boundaries for children.
• Help children develop spiritual qualities.
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Teachers should:
• Help children to develop happy, likeable social personalities.
• Base discipline on mutual respect.
• Eliminate physical and psychological violence from school.
• Make Personal, Social and Health Education statutory.
• Present sex and relationships education not as biology but part of social and emotional learning.
• New tests on emotional and behavioural well being should be carefully piloted.
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Government should:
• Introduce non religious, free civil birth ceremonies.
• Offer high quality parenting classes, psychological support and adolescent mental health services throughout the country.
• Train at least 1,000 more highly qualified psychological therapists over the next five years.
• Automatically assess the mental health of children entering local authority care or custody.
• Raise the pay and status of all people who work with children including teachers and child care workers.
• Give a salary supplement to teachers taking jobs in deprived areas.
• Replace all SATS tests with an annual assessment designed mainly to guide a child’s learning.
• Stop publishing data on individual schools from which league tables are constructed by the media.
• Start a major campaign to persuade employers to offer apprenticeships.
• Build a high quality youth centre for every 5,000 young people.
• Ban all building on sports fields and open spaces where children play.
• Ban firms from advertising to British children under 12.
• Ban adverts for alcohol or unhealthy food on television before 9 pm.
• Reduce the proportion of children in relative poverty from 22% to under 10% by 2015.
The media should:
Rethink the amount of violence they put out, the unbalanced impression they give of the risks that children face from strangers and the exaggerated picture they portray of young people threatening our social stability.
Advertisers should:
Stop encouraging premature sexualisation, heavy drinking and overeating.
All Society should:
Take a more positive attitude to children. Welcome them into society and help them.
A Good Childhood: Searching for Values in a Competitive Age was published on 5 Febuary 2009. It was authored by Richard Layard and Judy Dunn and is widely available. A proportion of the cost of every book sold will be donated to The Children’s Society.
The Good Childhood Enquiry
Georgina Godwin