There is so much about “child protection” out there and the vast majority of the population has jumped on the bandwagon: protect children at all costs!
Yes, we should protect children... just like we should protect all those in our care or who we have contact with. I would hope that adults, as decent members of society, would be looking after each other as well as looking after the children.
But what’s actually happened is that we’ve now created a society where childhood is incredibly difficult. Because of all the “child protection” policies in place – as well as the suspicion cast on all strangers who happen to be near children – adults in a position of responsibility are so concerned with the ‘protection’ of children that the fun part of learning is being eradicated.
Young people are advised to not talk to people they don’t know (some even being scared of it), and yet this is an integral part of successful adult life. Children (as well as some of the elderly) are the only people who can get away with saying outrageous comments. By their late teenage years, ‘they should know better’ and are considered rude.
Young people are encouraged away from dangerous activities – the ‘responsible parent’ surely wouldn’t let their child climb a tree: they should know better! And yet it is when we are children that our bumps and bruises heal much more quickly and we have a much lower sense of fear. It is not good enough to restrict that sense of adventure until they are over 18.
Young people are rarely in a position of organising activities. They have lots of ideas, but it’s always an adult who sorts it out. Perhaps the adult overseeing the young people is more concerned about being labelled irresponsible if something should go wrong. And yet if we deprive young people of such responsibilities, how can we expect them to get it right when they enter into adulthood?
Young people often have adults supervising them. “Child protection” policies rule out young people ever being left on their own – they can’t be trusted! Adults are considered irresponsible if they are not constantly supervising those in their care. It is as if the adults are not doing their job properly unless everything is running smoothly. And yet how are young people supposed to learn to resolve disagreements? A hypothetical situation in a discussion context just doesn’t do it. They need to learn to put things into practice. And they need to learn to act responsibly when they are not watched all the time. Trust is something that needs to be built up, one step at a time. But we must not stop those steps being taken.
Yes, there is a risk involved in encouraging young people to grow into adulthood – they may well get things wrong. But that’s a part of learning. How dare we deprive them of that? How dare we discriminate against young people – that just because they are under 18 they are therefore not able to learn to grow up?
Yes, we should protect children... just like we should protect all those in our care or who we have contact with. I would hope that adults, as decent members of society, would be looking after each other as well as looking after the children.
But what’s actually happened is that we’ve now created a society where childhood is incredibly difficult. Because of all the “child protection” policies in place – as well as the suspicion cast on all strangers who happen to be near children – adults in a position of responsibility are so concerned with the ‘protection’ of children that the fun part of learning is being eradicated.
Young people are advised to not talk to people they don’t know (some even being scared of it), and yet this is an integral part of successful adult life. Children (as well as some of the elderly) are the only people who can get away with saying outrageous comments. By their late teenage years, ‘they should know better’ and are considered rude.
Young people are encouraged away from dangerous activities – the ‘responsible parent’ surely wouldn’t let their child climb a tree: they should know better! And yet it is when we are children that our bumps and bruises heal much more quickly and we have a much lower sense of fear. It is not good enough to restrict that sense of adventure until they are over 18.
Young people are rarely in a position of organising activities. They have lots of ideas, but it’s always an adult who sorts it out. Perhaps the adult overseeing the young people is more concerned about being labelled irresponsible if something should go wrong. And yet if we deprive young people of such responsibilities, how can we expect them to get it right when they enter into adulthood?
Young people often have adults supervising them. “Child protection” policies rule out young people ever being left on their own – they can’t be trusted! Adults are considered irresponsible if they are not constantly supervising those in their care. It is as if the adults are not doing their job properly unless everything is running smoothly. And yet how are young people supposed to learn to resolve disagreements? A hypothetical situation in a discussion context just doesn’t do it. They need to learn to put things into practice. And they need to learn to act responsibly when they are not watched all the time. Trust is something that needs to be built up, one step at a time. But we must not stop those steps being taken.
Yes, there is a risk involved in encouraging young people to grow into adulthood – they may well get things wrong. But that’s a part of learning. How dare we deprive them of that? How dare we discriminate against young people – that just because they are under 18 they are therefore not able to learn to grow up?
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