A
New FICE National Section
The
25th of September 2003 was an historic day for Scotland. The
Scottish National Section of the Fédération Internationale
des Communautés Educatives (FICE) was established at a
meeting held in the sumptuous surroundings of the Satinwood Suite
in Glasgow City Chambers.
Baillie Margaret McCafferty welcomed delegates on behalf
of Glasgow City Council. She had been the Chair of the Citys Childrens
Committee for over four years and had been closely involved in the
integration of services for children throughout the City. Since a
third of Scotlands looked after children were in Glasgow, this was
a vital task.
Baillie
Margaret McCafferty also acknowledged the international nature
of many child care issues today - child slavery, asylum-seeking
or the prevalence of street children in many countries. She hoped
such key issues would be addressed and wished FICE-Scotland well,
looking forward to participation in the 2004 Congress, when FICE-International
would be guests of Glasgow.
There
have, of course, been Scottish members of FICE for many years,
but it was judged that the time was now right for Scotland to
have separate representation on FICEs Federal Council, reflecting
the political separation and the historical differences between
the childcare systems and legislation within the United Kingdom.
(Caring for Children will continue to represent FICE in England
and Wales.)
The creation of the new National Section
was the result of support from the Scottish Institute of Residential
Child Care (SIRCC), and in particular of the hard work put in by Andrew
Hosie, who has participated in recent FICE Federal Council meetings,
taking the application for membership through its formal processes.
Theo
Binnendijk, the President of FICE-International, brought good
wishes to the new National Section. During his presidency, Bulgaria
had already joined, and he was pleased to see the steady growth
of FICE membership. FICE was founded on voluntary effort, and
he was keen to support those who wanted to use the opportunities
which FICE membership provided to contribute to the development
of good professional practice in their countries. Each FICE National
Section is autonomous, Theo pointed out, and has the scope to
help children in need in the way best suited to their country.
A
message of support from Kathleen Lane, the Secretary of FICE-England
and Wales, was read out. It will be good to have stronger representation
of these islands in Europe. I am sure that delegates from Scotland
will bring some common sense to the debates of the Federal Council
and also contribute some much needed expertise and energy to
FICE International and FICE Europe, she said.
Theo
chaired the meeting briefly to enable the election of FICE-Scotlands
three key officers, and the posts were filled by Ranald Mair
as Chair, Andrew Hosie as Secretary and Meg Lindsay as Treasurer.
With such a strong team providing the lead, the future for FICE-Scotland
looks bright.
There
was some debate about subscriptions, whether young people could
join, ethical banking and the draft constitution. The main point
arising was that FICE-Scotland wanted to encourage people to
join.
1903
- 2003
Following
the business formalities, the meeting heard a couple of fascinating
papers which grounded the work of FICE-Scotland in the past and
took stock of the circumstances in which children were growing
up today.
Meg
Lindsay used her family history to compare the position in which
her mother was brought up a hundred years ago with the situation
for her grandchild today, using powerpoint to superimpose the
pictures of the successive generations. Judy Furnivalls message
happily fitted in so neatly with Megs introduction, that they
interwove their contributions. Judy had been consulting a group
of young people to learn their take on life at the start of the
twenty-first century, and it revealed some startling messages.
Megs
paper was based on the simple framework of a SWOT analysis of
life then and now. In 1903, people had a strong sense of identity,
and one knew ones place in society. No-one locked doors and people
cared for each others children. Glasgow was rich and self-confident,
building half of the worlds shipping and reflecting its corporate
wealth in the City Chambers.
Poverty
was still commonplace, as were child deaths. People failed to
grow for lack of food. There was no safety net in society, and
many people suffered in consequence. However, things were getting
better, with improved medical care and better technology, and
(before the First World War) people thought they would keep on
getting better. The pace of change was increasing, and there
was a growing sense that war was impending.
Now,
in 2003, there was relative wealth, better public health, inside
toilets and bathrooms and awareness of childrens rights. Some
aspects of current life were double-edged. There was more choice,
but greater confusion resulting from an excess of options and
lack of clear accepted guidance. The media made children aware
of international instability, but that was part of greater access
to information. There was the chance to travel, offset by awareness
of global environmental issues. There was generational stratification,
with childrens reference groups being drawn from the soaps and
media, rather than extended families. Relationships were now
more transitory.
Judys
group of young people painted a bleak picture. They said that
life was hard : there were so many questions. It was frightening
as they could not go out at certain times or to certain places.
Adults did not respect them. They were small and were told what
to do. Adults asked what they wanted then ignored their comments.
Teachers picked on children for no particular reason.
But
when they were challenged about the picture they gave, they acknowledged
that it was still good to be alive and they liked the reduced
rigidity of social conventions which meant that they did not
need to behave respectably all the time.
On
thinking about their comments, it had struck Judy that the media
over the last decade had been filled with wars, bombings, attacks
in safe places, murders by caring professionals, wars, crashes,
illnesses, natural disasters and abuse. The gloomy view was understandable.
The
moral of the two papers was that a lot more thinking needs to
be done about the environment in which we want children to be
brought up, and in particular the impact of the media on their
view of life. FICE-Scotland could be one forum for such a debate.
2004
Next year, the new National
Section will act as host to FICEs International Congress. Planning
is well under way, and the call for papers will be going out shortly.
Speakers will be wanted for sessions in English, French and German,
FICEs three languages, and the theme of the Congress will be proving
a space - or place - for children, whether the space is physical or
emotional, in their home, in the community or in services provided
to meet their needs.
Not
only will the Congress provide professionals with a chance to discuss
all the aspects of this important theme, but there will be a parallel
Congress, valid in its own right, to allow young people to meet and
discuss matters from their point of view, with the chance to give
their messages to the adult Congress. It is hoped that delegates will
come from many countries, and FICE-Scotland will be issuing details
before long, indicating the ways in which they hope to make the occasion
entertaining and absorbing but also safe.
