Has the Position of Children Improved or Worsened? Flashcards
Legal Controls
Why?
Laws restricting children stem from a desire to protect them - health, security, safety, prevention of exploitation, and prevention of child abuse or paedophilia
Legal Controls
What is Restricted?
Getting married (16 w/parental consent, otherwise 18)
Driving a car (17)
Voting and becoming an MP or local councillor (18)
Taking paid work (13 + 14)
Under school leaving age, no work in school hours, over 2 hours on school day, 12 hours in a week
Unhappy Children
Sociologists
Womack
UNICEF
Margo
Rees
Unhappy Children
Womack
British children are unhappiest in the West
Family breakdown causes angst - one third of British 16yr olds live apart from bio fathers
Unhappy Children
UNICEF
Children growing up in UK more prone to bad physical + mental health, failure at school, etc and exposed to more alcohol, drugs, and unsafe sex than other wealthy countries
Teen pregnancy among highest in Europe
10% mental health problems, 50% adults with lifetime mental health issues began as a child.
Unhappy Children
Margo
British children spend more time in company of peers and less time with adults/ parents than similar countries
Many concerned parents not there when they need them, don’t feel loved or cared for
Unhappy Children
Rees
England
Estimated 9% of 14-16 year olds run away from home overnight at least once a year, 84,000 children under 16
Unhappy Children
Children and Crime
Annaully - 3,000 crimes under the age of 10, 75,000 school-age children enter youth justice system, parents blamed for poor socialisation
May be asserting independence
International concerns - sale + trafficking, prostitution, pornography, soldiers, organ + tissue trafficking
Child Abuse
Sexual Abuse
Adults using power to perform sex acts with children below age of consent (16)
Child Abuse
Emotional Abuse
Persistent or severe emotional ill-treatment or rejection of children, having severe effects on emotional developments and behaviour.
Child Abuse
Physical Abuse
Non-sexual violence against children
Child Abuse
Neglect
Failure to protect children from exposure to danger, including cold and starvation, and failing to care for them properly - afffecting health or development
Child Abuse
NSPCC
1 in 5 children severely mistreated in childhood, mostly by a parent or guardian
1/5 of teenage girls hit by parents, a quarter regularly
Child Abuse
Department for Education
43,100 children + young people under 18 subject of Child Protection Plan due to abuse
Nearly 3/4 of a million episodes of need referred to + assessed by local authority care services
Child Abuse
Childline
Helped over 3.5 million people since launch in 1986
Physical + sexual abuse remain in top ten concerns, along with rise in mental wellbeing issues such as self-harm, suicide, and depressive disorders
Sibling Abuse
Womack
Understanding Society UK survey - 31% of young people were hit, kicked, pushed ‘a lot’ or ‘quite a lot’ by sibling, 30% called names or had belongings stolen
30% with siblings frequently bullied, 8% scared of being badly hurt, 40% admitted to bullying siblings
Often cause of concern to parents
Sibling Abuse
Bowes
Children who said they were bullied by a sibling several times a week were twice as likely to have depression, self-harm, and to suffer anxiety by 18 than other children
