Schools
In
a White Paper Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, is wanting
greater private involvement in the running of schools and
a diminished role for local authorities. Every secondary
school is to be able to become an independent self-governing
state school, broadly on the model of city academies, working
with business, employers and the voluntary sector. The reforms
will permit schools to become trusts setting their own curricula,
and employ teachers and own their assets. Tony Blair is
backing the plans, saying that every secondary school will
be expected to become an independent, self-governing academy
within five years.
Barnardo’s (and John Prescott?) say the reforms will
disadvantage the poorest people. The Government seems to
us to have floundered around in the field of education,
despite it being the Prime Minister’s top priority.
The real danger, if there is no local authority control
and responsibility, is that planning will be done in Whitehall,
which is distant from the stakeholders, or by no-one at
all. Both are recipes for chaos.
Drink
The
Government is introducing more flexible drinking hours at
a time when alcohol is causing major problems for young
people. A TV documentary broadcast on 25 October 2005 showed
that a third of 14-year-olds and half of 15-year-olds drink
every week. The programme claimed that 1,000 under-15s need
emergency treatment for alcohol poisoning each year and
that one in six under-25s is alcohol-dependent. It warned
that 47% of young men and 35% of young women are bingeing.
Until young people can show that they can cope with drinking
sensibly, there should be no let-up. It is one thing to
have an occasional party and to let one’s hair down
a bit. It is quite another to binge regularly. The long-term
effects on health, vulnerability to addiction, ability to
work, relationships with other people and liability to offend
are all overwhelming. Drink is becoming one of the scourges
of the younger generation.
MacDonald’s
It
is reported that two-thirds of all three-year-olds can recognise
the MacDonald’s golden arches. From our own research,
we can support this finding, although in our case, the subject
of our research could identify the big M before he was two.
Before MacDonald’s get too excited, it should be said
that the same went for other burger bars as well.
Asylum
and Immigration: Government’s Policy Failing Vulnerable
Refugee Children
New
research published by children’s charity Barnardo’s,
supported by the Refugee Children’s Consortium provides
evidence of the serious damage being done to vulnerable
children by a new asylum and immigration policy.
The study involves 33 local authorities including 18 that
have been part of the government’s pilot implementation
of Section 9 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of
Claimants) Act 2004.
Section 9 of the Act removes or significantly restricts
the welfare entitlement of families who have reached the
end of the asylum process and who have “failed to
take reasonable steps” to leave the UK. The removal
of basic support by local authorities under the 1989 Children
Act is leaving families destitute. The Government’s
belief is that this will encourage families with children
to leave the UK once their asylum claim has been decided.
Whilst Section 9 is not unique in its use of welfare restrictions
to encourage return, it is unique in the way it deliberately
impacts negatively on refugee children.
Key findings from the research:
• • All local authorities interviewed believe
that Section 9 is wholly incompatible with existing child
welfare legislation*, and some fear Section 9 will undermine
the well-established principle that the child’s welfare
should be paramount.
• • There is evidence that the different approaches
taken by authorities are likely to lead to a postcode lottery
in support.
• • Many local authorities are fearful that
in working with these families they are leaving themselves
open to legal challenge.
In addition to these failings, the report indicates there
is little evidence that this policy is effective in achieving
the Government’s objective of speeding up returns.
Many families do not understand their position, and of the
116 families involved in the pilot not one has returned
to their country of origin. At least 35 have disappeared,
and are now living on the margins of society, vulnerable
to abuse and exploitation.
Nancy Kelley, author of the report, says, “Refugee
children often come to this country traumatised by what
they have seen. Unfortunately arrival in the UK rarely marks
the beginning of a safe and comfortable life; indeed they
are likely to experience continued stress, hunger, poor
health and extreme poverty. Whatever the intention of Section
9, it is being implemented in a way that runs the risk of
causing life long damage to children and families who are
already among the most vulnerable people in society.”
Barnardo’s recommendations:
• Refugee children are children first and foremost,
and UK asylum policy should protect their welfare as a first
principle.
• The Government should take the opportunity to repeal
Section 9 before its implementation does further damage
to the lives of children and families.
• The Government should review its asylum policy as
a whole, specifically considering the extent to which it
is compatible with existing child welfare and human rights
legislation including the UN Convention on the Rights of
the Child.
This item is based on a Barnardo’s press release,
and we support them.
Saying
“No”
A
book called The Pampered Child Syndrome has been
written by Maggie Mamen, a psychologist, explaining how
parents can control their children, and claiming that failing
to say “No” to them leaves them vulnerable to
addiction and unable to mix socially.
The book follows quite a plethora of TV programmes (our
favourite being Supernanny) in which parents are
given the nerve to cope with their children. Why parents
should ever have thought that saying “No” to
their children was going to damage them foxes us. Maybe
they simply do not have the self-confidence. Perhaps they
want to indulge their children and buy their co-operation
and affection. Maybe they’re just not bothered about
their kids. Anyway, we back the advice that it is the adults
who should be in charge.
If you want the book, it’s published by Jessica Kingsley
at £12.99. Follow its advice and you’ll be making
an economic investment.
On
the Programme
It said, “Conservative speaker to be confirmed”.
We knew the quote that “The Establishment is the Tory
Party at prayer”, but to slot a confirmation service
into the Social Services Conference programme was a bit
much.
Fancy
Delivering a Paper in Aviemore?
SIRCC is holding a conference on residential child care
in Aviemore on 5-6 June 2006. The focus is to look at the
power of the residential setting to change lives.
SIRCC events are first-class, and this should be worth
putting in the diary. If you want more details, especially
if you want to respond to their call for papers, click
here.
Shelter
A report called Full House has been published
by Shelter, looking at the impact of overcrowding on children.
Out of their sample of 550 families, almost three out of
four of the children shared bedrooms with their parents.
It was felt by the families that their children’s
education was affected by their accommodation. Black and
ethnic minority families suffered twice as much as other
families.
These days, when such a large section of the population
can afford two homes, there should be no need for anyone
to have substandard housing.
Did
You See? .....
..... Tough Kids Tough Love on BBC 2 on 19 October?
It was a film about Kids Company, a London-based organisation
which provides a variety of support services for vulnerable
children. Some of these services are based in schools or
in the community, but the bulk of the film focused on work
being undertaken with two teenagers at a direct-access unit
where young people can seek a safe haven. Essentially, the
film was based around the work of Camila Batmanghelidjh,
a psychotherapist originally from Iran and the founder and
Director of Kids Company.
The young people displayed a lot of disturbed behaviour
to camera, and it might be argued that they were playing
up for the programme, but their combination of emotional
problems and substance abuse probably means that they would
have behaved the same without the BBC being present. It
was fairly chaotic, and no doubt viewers would have had
a wide range of reactions.
What was clear was that Camila offered the young people
unconditional love and that this is what they needed. It
is not a panacea which cures immediately, but without it,
the young people’s future would be a lot bleaker.
As she said, “Professional people don’t like
talking about love”, but it is what children need.
..... Jamie Oliver get a special award on television the
other night? Usually these programmes are opportunities
for people in the entertainment business to congratulate
each other, but on this occasion the award went to someone
who
(a) knows his stuff professionally,
(b) worked really hard to get his point across about the
need for good school food,
(c) had a real impact on all the key people – including
dinner ladies, school-children and the Government,
(d) is personally witty and disarming and genuinely entertaining.
Great. Well deserved.
..... Martin Narey in the Guardian, (26 October
2005, Supplement pp. 16 – 17) following the same line
as this month’s Editorial? He suggested that establishments
for child offenders should be “secure colleges”,
designed to help them sort out their lives. Perhaps these
establishments should be assessed and approved for the purpose,
and they could be called approved colleges, or for the younger
ones, approved schools perhaps. After all, they would have
the same purpose as the system disbanded in the 1970s.
..... the report, also in the Guardian on 26 October
2005, about the report on the sexual abuse suffered by children
in the Republic of Ireland? A total of over twenty Roman
Catholic priests were involved, and the situation was exacerbated
by the inaction of their Bishops, who in essence moved the
priests around, rather than treat their actions as offences
with victims. This left the children traumatised.
The current Bishop, Eammon Walsh, has apologised unreservedly.
This is a start, but it will take a lot more than that to
re-establish the Church in the eyes of the Irish people.
Its hold used to be very strong. It now needs to do everything
it can to compensate the former children who were abused,
both financially and with offers of support and treatment.
It also needs to take its own medicine in whole-heartedly
acknowledging its errors and humbly seeking forgiveness.
Another
Response to Paedotrophia
A Thora Pip Ode : Feeding
Be careful what you feed your child.
It makes him what he is.
Just fill him up with pop and squash –
He’ll effervesce and fizz.
You feed him fat? He will be fat.
Feed meat if it is lean.
Just watch his muscles grow and bulge.
You’ll see just what we mean.
But if you think that meat is bad
And keep him off the steaks,
And then you stuff him full of beans,
Watch out for what then breaks.
And if he asks for sweeter things,
Like candy bars and flakes,
And chocolates and popcorn too,
And biscuits, buns and cakes,
He may become a pudding too,
And suffer stomach aches.
Make sure he has his vegetables,
His carrots, peas and greens,
His cauliflower and broccoli
And cabbages an beans,
His salads such as cucumbers,
Tomatoes, aubergines,
And then there’s fruit – pears, oranges,
Bananas, nectarines.
He needs these foods if he’s to grow
And not have spotty teens.
Ensure he takes some exercise
To use up energy,
For playing sport and running round
Will help his sanity.
So put a limit on the time
He spends at his PC,
And get him burning calories
And he will thrive. You see.
From
a Risk Assessment
If X does abscond, try to impress
on her the need for
protective clothing / footwear...
And
why not run after her with a packet of sandwiches and her
bus fare for the journey as well?
