Indictment of Childhood in United Kingdom

02/13/2009

Indictment of Childhood in United Kingdom

It’s not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world. It’s our job to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless.
L. R. Knost

Last week when we were in Belfast putting finishing touches on plans for the 2009 World Forum, the UK media was abuzz with stories about a report released on the deteriotating status of childhood in the UK. This two-year study commissioned by the Church of England-affiliated Children's Society examined the mental and moral state of UK children at the ages of 5, 11, and 14 based on interviews with over 30,000 children and adults. A few highlights from the study's final report, A Good Childhood: Searching for Values in a Competitive Age by Richard Layard and Judy Dunn (available at Amazon.co.uk):

The United Kingdom has some of the worst rates of child unhappiness, poverty, family breakdown, and child violence in the western world.
Britain's cult of individualism, greed, and selfishness has so blighted children's lives that families and pupils need basic training in love and moral responsibility.
Children can suffer mental health problems from spending too long watching television or surfing the Internet.
Exposure to mass media has resulted in a generation of materialistic children
The British exam system, which tests children at ages 7 and 11, makes British children "the most tested in the world." The tests "cast a cloud over classrooms" and encourage schools to ignore pupils who were unlikely to get good grades.

A More Uplifting View

If you are eager to see good stories about childhood around the world, check out From My Side: Being A Child. This is a beautiful hardcover book celebrating the authors' lifelong travels to countries throughout the world. Over 200 full-color photographs illustrate how children learn from their environment when they are engaged in everyday life activities. Ideal for home and school, educators and parents.

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For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.