Delighted

Delighted to see the following yesterday evening.

http://www.actionforchildren.org.uk/news/archive/2013/april/call-to-shift-focus-to-the-prevention-of-child-abuse-and-neglect-is-welcomed

I've had quite a break from the blog, I wonder if any one is still viewing it?

problems with blogger

I've been having problems with blogger, so have been unable to post, and edit my last post or add to it, very frustrating!
It seems I am not the only one however and hope to get it sorted fully soon. I've had so much I've wanted to post about.
Here is a link to send your MP an email via Action for Children's website calling for a reform in the law to help neglected children;
http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=114&ea.campaign.id=18704&ea.tracking.id=fb

 Sky news reported a few days ago;

 "That a third of the public who had concerns about a child did not tell anyone - mainly because they did not think they had enough evidence - while 15% were worried of repercussions.

Some 14% of professionals have reported a rise in suspected child neglect over the past year and of these, nearly three-quarters believed a deterioration in parenting skills was a contributing factor to the increase.

Two-thirds believed greater poverty was to blame and more than half blamed family breakdowns."
The report is one of the most comprehensive reviews into child neglect; the second in an annual series by the University of Stirling. Six thousand members of the public, a range of professionals and 27 local authorities took part in the research.

Dame Clare Tickell, the charity's chief executive, said: "It is of grave concern that one in every 10 children could be suffering neglect.

"We know that early help has the potential to transform the lives of children and families, yet today's report tells us that the public aren't being given the know-how they need and professionals' best efforts are being hindered by stretched budgets and a lack of resources."

Action for Children wants the Government to introduce a website with a post code function to enable the public to seek the most appropriate help at the earliest opportunity for children they are worried about.

The charity is also asking the Government to meet its commitment to putting measures in place to support professionals to make decisions whether and when to intervene.

Shadow minister for children and young people, Lisa Nandy said: "It's shocking that so many more children are facing neglect and ill-treatment than this time last year. This report should act as a wake-up call."

Wouldn't it make sense to prevent as much as possible, this happening in the first place?

Help to change outdated law on child abuse !

Action for Children need help with getting an outdated law reformed. For more information see this link

http://www.actionforchildren.org.uk/campaigns/tackling-child-neglect/review-of-child-neglect-in-the-uk

Action For Children Changing The Law

Kids Company in Bristol! Positive change in the air!

Welcome back again.

Yesterday I mentioned Emotional Regulation, today Kids Company shared the news of a new place in Bristol. In this short news clip from the BBC two young lads, share how they have had difficulty with anger and how Kids Company has, and is helping them. This is great news.

link: BBC news Kids Company in Bristol!


Sadly other news was not good.
 Nursery ratios raised to 'improve standards', - sigh who are they kidding!
In an ideal world a mother would be happy to stay at home for a few years to nurture and raise her children. Sadly this is not a choice for many mothers today it seems. No carer can give the attention needed by six two year old's, for half a day let alone five days a week.

You can support the protest via this link below;

change.petitions/department-for-education-drop-plans-to-increase-child-to-adult-ratios#

Still I'm uplifted to see what appears to me to be an increase in the papers and people saying that it is total utter madness!

May be a positive change is in the air!

Climate change, Empathy and emotional regulation

Yesterday whilst enjoying the priviledge of a good meal with my husband and son (now 26!) we discussed the blog, My son gave me some feedback which confirmed some thoughts I'd had over the title post of Camila Batmangelidgh "Its not Climate Change we should be worrying about".  He disagreed, "Clearly, climate change is something that needs addressing!" he said.

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."

Starfish

I've had feedback that leaving any comments is proving too much of a challenge! I'm really sorry. I struggle myself with all this computer jargon and what to do myself. But its so fantastic too! I can see that my blog has and is being read around the world! in less than a week .... How good is that? I do hope it results in some positive change!

In this time of economic struggling we can all learn so much, sadly charities are finding it hard to get the funding they need and children are suffering significantly, we can all make a difference hence today I thought I'd post the story of the Starfish, which I was surprised to hear most recently in Church at Midnight mass on Christmas eve!(I don't often go to church).  I have given this story to others since it was given to me some time ago now, I still love to read it to remind me in times of need.

If you want to leave a comment then you need to be signed into one of the account types listed (in the dropdown when you click on add a comment key) - a google account is probably the most likely. I hope that helps as its so good to get feedback and know others views. I've been really encouraged and spurred on by a lot of wonderful feed back. Thank you everyone.

The Starfish

Once upon a time there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So he began to walk faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.

As he got closer he called out, "Good morning! What are you doing?"
The young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish into the ocean."
"I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?"
"The sun is up, and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die."
"But, young man, don't you realise that there are miles and miles of beach, and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said, "It made a difference for that one."

 

*                 *                     *               *                  *             *              *
 

There is something very special in each and every one of us. We have all been gifted with the ability to make a difference. And if we can become aware of that gift, we gain through the strength of our visions the power to shape the future. We must each find our starfish. And if we throw our stars wisely and well, the world will be blessed.

unknown

Aims of blog and what you can do

I’ve already had some positive feedback thank you!

I do understand that everyone has busy lives, that the information on this blog may be unpleasant, easy to put off reading, or listening to the radio interview to "when you may have more time" and easy to forget. To some, from feedback I've had, it's "Shocking".  If you haven't yet listened to Camila's radio interview on the second post ("Its not climate change we should be worrying about") please please do.

In my view of our world we are one big family and need to take care of all children, not see them as someone elses responsibility

I'd like to clarify my aims in creating this blog;

1. To help publicise and hopefully make more common knowledge what is happening for many children – especially (but not only) in many cities in the UK, (e.g. lack of care from parents & services letting them down).  Many people are under the illusion that social services will take care of children when needed and are surprised to learn that this is not always the case.
2. To get support for calls for more (not less!) funding for early years and child support.
3. To suggest the simple low cost preventative measure of infant massage classes as part of health care that every parent (ideally if possible both parents, not just one of them!) would get, along with a return of more antenatal care. Currently a lot of funding for this has been, or is being cut.
4. To encourage people to take action write to your MP, support calls for better funding for early years and childcare support along with health care. - To show members of parliament that adults of voting age do care!  It seems so very wrong to me that so much childcare and support is provided by and relies on charity!
   Child line was set up 25 years ago to give children a voice! It is currently run by the NSPCC.  The following shocking facts are from the NSPCC website from 2011!
   On average, every week in England and Wales at least one child is killed at the hands of another person.
   Children under one are the age group most at-risk of being killed at the hands of another person.
   Source: London Home Office (2011) Smith, Kevin (ed.) et al (2011) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2009/10: supplementary volume 2 to crime in England and Wales 2009/2010.
5. To promote learning and understanding of brain development in the hope that it will support ending discrimination against people with mental health difficulties. To show the general public that mental health difficulties mostly (if not totally, we don't know everything) comes from how a person was nurtured (or not) as a young baby or child. To encourage the understanding that someone with what is labelled ‘mental illness’ is not ‘at fault’ and what will most likely aid recovery and why this can take time (very simply put; we generally learn quickly as a child because the brain grows quickly when we are young , for adults relearning is slow because the brain develops much more slowly when we are older).
6. To support and aid my own personal growth, to inspire others that they too can make a difference, replacing apathy with hope.