Poor Little devils

The publication of UNICEF’s Report Card on child well-being in the 21 richest nations of the world gave the UK a resounding ‘should try harder’ and prompted a flurry of finger pointing, hand wringing, concern and denial. As Children’s Commissioner for England, I was disheartened but not surprised by the findings, which echo what children and young people tell me on a regular basis.

The UK is placed bottom of the league table for the well-being of our children. We performed badly on the quality of family life, the number of children living in relative poverty, bullying, peer relationships and the high rates of obesity, drunkenness, drug taking and early sexual activity.

In fact, across the six categories — health, education, poverty, family relationships and risky behaviour — the UK lay in the bottom third in all but educational attainment. The report also makes it clear that economic prosperity does not guarantee health and happiness for our children. The UK, the fourth richest nation in the world, ranks below Portugal, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Greece and Poland.

Despite the limitations of the methodology which measured only single aspects of broad policy areas and important omissions with regard to younger children, the picture painted by the report is a depressing one. Our children represent the future of our country and it seems they are in poor health, unable to maintain loving and successful relationships, feel unsafe and insecure, have low aspirations and put themselves and others at risk.

So what should be done? How can we learn from Sweden and Holland, who ride high at the top of the table?

Firstly, as the government have been quick to point out — and I would agree — a lot has already been done to improve the lives of children and young people in England. Much of the data in the UNICEF study is now over five years old and it will take time for the results of the government’s significant investment to become fully evident.

I welcome the commitment and energy demonstrated by Every Child Matters and other initiatives that have seen hundreds of thousands of children lifted out of absolute poverty, support to target children and parents in those crucial first few months and years, teenage pregnancy rates, and the number of children living in workless households falling.

However, we must acknowledge that these problems can not be solved by policy and funding alone. There is a crisis at the heart of our society and we must stop ignoring the impact of our attitudes towards children and young people, and the effect that this has on their well-being.

We need to look seriously at the position of children and young people in our society. I often question whether we actually like children and young people in this country. The recent ippr report ‘Freedom’s Orphans’ found a growing sense of paedophobia, a fear of engaging with children and young people, in the UK. The overwhelmingly negative reporting of children and young people in the media fuels these fears and create chasms between young people and adults. Children and young people are viewed as someone else’s problem from which the rest of us should be shielded. It is time we embraced the fact that looking after children is everybody’s business — families, schools, communities and faiths as well as governments. Our children are an asset to, and the responsibility of all in, society.

In facing up to our failure to value children and young people, and the consequences of this not only for their health and happiness but that of society in general, we need to demonstrate the political courage to make the hard choices required to reverse this situation.

One starting point is to tackle the inconsistencies in our policies regarding children. Rather than repeatedly responding to a series of behaviours — overeating, drinking, underachieving, partaking in anti-social activities — we need to look beyond the statistics and focus on the underlying causes of our failure to nurture happy and healthy children in the UK, to approach children as individuals and children first and foremost.

Current attitudes are particularly evident in our legal system. It is clear that the creeping criminalisation of young people that sees us lock up more children than any other country in Europe is not in the best interests of children or of our society. Eighty per cent of young people re-offend on release, the incidences of self-harm and serious mental health problems amongst young people in custody are appalling, and their future outcomes in life extremely poor.

At the age of ten, children are not considered responsible enough to own a pet and yet a ten-year -old will be held criminally responsible for his or her actions. And whilst our laws punish young people for simply being together in a public place they do not afford our children with the same protection against physical punishment deemed necessary for adults.

Hard choices must also be made to prioritise the health of our children above the pursuit of commercial interests by taking a strong line in curbing the confusing messages about food, alcohol and sexual behaviour to which our children are constantly subjected.

As adults we are challenged to examine our relationships with each other to ascertain why we are not giving our children and young people the values, confidence and resilience to form and maintain successful relationships.

What impact are the pressures of work, the long-hours culture and the pursuit of wealth having on our families? Are we organising our lives around our children and young people or in spite of them?

From my experience as Children’s Commissioner, I know first-hand that if we actively seek and listen to the views, opinions and experiences of children and young people and give them real power to participate in decision-making, rather than being ‘the problem’, they can be instigators of solutions to so many of the issues facing our society.

In the coming year, I will be working with children and young people to find out what are the real drivers in making them healthy and happy, how school and leisure time can be more enjoyable and stimulating, and how we should address the alarming growth in childhood emotional difficulties.

Using my powers as Children’s Commissioner, I hope to influence changes that will make real improvements in the treatment of the most vulnerable young people in our society — those in prisons, mental health institutions, secure children’s homes, and children and young people seeking asylum here in the UK. I will be travelling the length and breadth of England to hear children and young people’s stories and act on their opinions and views.

Later this year the UK government will face another test at the hands of the United Nations when they report on how well the UK is meeting its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The UNICEF report highlights all too starkly how poorly children’s rights are served in the UK.

In a few months I will visit Sweden, second in the UNICEF rankings, a country where children’s rights are embedded in every aspect of society, to the extent that every piece of new legislation is assessed for its impact on children. I hope to learn from their approach, as should others.

It is time to stop demonising children and young people for what goes wrong and to start supporting them in making positive choices, to bring an end to the confusing messages we give to young people about their role, responsibility and position in society, and ensure that every child feels valued and has their rights respected.

To find out more about the work of the Children’s Commissioner for England email info.request@childrenscommissioner.org