Some good news from Action for Children

After the child neglect law debate was postponed until November, I’m happy to bring you some good news. We’ve just received a letter from Government Minister, Damien Green MP telling us his department are going to review the law on child neglect. This is a big step forward as it means they’ll be speaking directly with experts, including us, to review the current law and we’ll be making sure they realise emotional neglect must be included to protect the most vulnerable children. This has happened because thousands of you emailed your MP, and hundreds of them have written to the Minister, Damien Green MP. Your pressure has pushed the government into action and I can’t thank you enough for playing your part. We’ll be talking to the Minister’s staff straight away and I’ll be back in touch when we have more details to share, particularly in the lead-up to the debate in November. Thank you again for your continued support. Matt Downie Head of campaigns

Prevention please

I hope Penelope Leach's book Divorcing better will help many parents to care for their children and cut down on the amount of suffering that many children go through.

BUT we still need to do far more than produce a book that many parents stressed out or in great pain themselves will not be even able to consider the advice.

The NSPCC website states that "support through pregnancy and first year can ensure positive parenting for a lifetime. Babies under one are particularly vulnerable to abuse and neglect, they are EIGHT times more likely to be killed than other children in the UK!"

Intervention is costly and difficult and comes too late; maltreatment usually has lifetime negative affects, again being costly and difficult. A retiring judge Alan Goldsack QC stated a couple of months ago that he thought that children of criminals should be taken away from their parents and put into care!

"a dysfunctional family would often have £250,000 spent on them, ‘but if we get in early and removed children we could save thousands’."!

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2330940/Alan-Goldsack-Remove-children-criminal-families-birth-save-crime-says-judge.html.

 

He is right about the financial cost, but putting children into care is not addressing the problems and is also very costly and does little to break a heart breaking cycle. There are a number of fairly simple, low cost ways of providing a great deal of prevention which could drastically cut the need for costly intervention, costly mental health services, doctors being over run, and result in more general productivity, leading to a happy and healthier nation.

Suggestions:

1. Give all 'parents to be' antenatal support and education including counselling for any trauma or abuse they may have suffered as children. This would also give professionals the ability to be more aware of where extra support may be necessary in the future.

2. Give all new parents infant massage sessions of at very least six weeks in the 'International Association of infant massage' way that aids bonding and attachment, at the same time as supporting new parents it helps them to see their child as a person with needs as they are taught to always ask permission from the infant and respond appropriately when the infant shows when it is not welcomed. Parents learn from one another and how to communicate in a positive and respectful way with their child. This helps the child’s brain to grow healthily which enables better health all round, aiding later speech and education ability. There are many studies that show the huge benefit of infant massage.

Also still give extra support for those parents who need it, in the first two years of the child's life.

3. Introduce the 'Roots of Empathy' programme (as Scotland is) which strives to break the intergenerational cycle of violence and poor parenting. (http://www.rootsofempathy.org/) into every school AND to home educators.

It should not be up to charities to provide the support every parent needs to be successful enough parents!

Divorcing Better by Penelope Leach

Mindful Policy Group

Just discovered this which is a huge delight to me. They have a new website at ;
http://www.mindfulpolicygroup.com
I can't seem to share this via facebook, something to do with flash :/ ?

Please do write and let me know what you think if you can, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you