I explained that whilst I believe addressing climate change is very important, I believe that what Camila is saying is that if we don't address the problem of lack of childhood care and consequential growing problems of crime and social breakdown, which is happening at a faster rate (it seems to me, but I'm no expert) then we will not address climate change; we may not survive that long! To be able to care for the environment a person from a young age needs to have had enough care in their life to develop empathy and emotional regulation to enable sufficient care for others and our earth. Maybe that title should have been... "Its not JUST Climate Change we should be worrying about".
I'd like to introduce another Charity with a similar message ......
What about the children was founded in the aftershock of the Jamie Bulger murder case. The subsequent enquiry established that the two 10 year old perpetrators of this shocking crime, were themselves victims of severe neglect from birth. As they say:
"Since 1993 the charity has worked to raise awareness about the importance of the emotional needs of children under three, for better understanding about care in the early years and its impact on future physical, emotional and mental development. When the first three years are right it brings benefits not only to the child but to society as a whole. Our main role is to inform parents and professionals alike about scientific developments, which have an impact on the way in which we bring up and educate our youngest children.
We work to bring to the attention of Government, policy makers and advisors and all childcare professionals and parents, the importance of these early years".
I was going to attempt to explain more about how the capacity for empathy is developed in a baby's brain but instead I want to draw attention to this fantastic programme - Roots of Empathy, which has pilot schemes now in a few schools in the uk. Again funded by charity! Roots of Empathy programs in Newcastle are supported by Action for Children UK, and in Lewisham and Croydon by Pre-school Alliance Lewisham and Croydon Voluntary Action, with funding from Big Lottery Fund.
Apparently by the end of this academic year, more than 11,500 children will have benefited from the program since its introduction in the United Kingdom. This scheme is in use in several other countries worldwide.
This programme as far as I can see is very exciting, and it gives me some more hope, It seems a great shame to me that it's delivery is so limited when it has a strong evidence base of independent academic research across several countries that has consistently shown the the program dramatically reduces aggression and increases social and emotional understanding among children who receive it.
Link to roots of empathy website
I would like to call for this programme to be made available in every primary school along with Infant massage instruction for every parent as I've explained in previous post!
"In Roots of Empathy, the innovative and inspired book based on her ground-breaking and successful classroom program and solid research, Mary Gordon shares her vision of a society of compassionate and caring children who will pass on their legacy of empathy to their own children. She believes that infusing children with empathy constitutes nothing less than a new paradigm in our approach to child-raising. It is an approach that could very well change our world."
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