Children Advocating

Working with children involves a variety of knowledge and skills in addition to being patient and compassionate. I gained specific talents by working with children that I did not learn through formal training. When working with children, one needs to be more vivacious and structured. Even though the work might be challenging, it can also be fascinating and gratifying. I’ve developed the ability to listen actively and sympathetically. Before summarizing material and imparting it to kids, I consult and bargain (Boyle, Topping, Jindal, & Norwich, 2012, pp.167-184). I am a confident communicator and am comfortable working with kids and teenagers. I also observe professional ethics and respect for both self and others when handling children or young people.

I can make an observation or judgment based on the behavior of the child (Ben et al., 2011). My empathetic skills enable me to understand the person and know where the knowledge I obtained could get useful since I know my environment and place in working with children and young people

(Banerjee, Weare, & Farr, 2014, pp.718-742). I can detect a developing problem in a child and take the immediate action. I am concerned about a child’s development, and it is my responsibility to safeguard their well-being. I have excellent communication and reporting skills with the knowledge of when to release the information or how to keep it. I get information about the legal procedures concerning my work with children and the young people. I have a clear understanding of the childhood developmental stages, and I am usually more than willing to support the children or young people.

Addressing Person Specification Essential 1 ‘A determined and supported ethos on working with children’

Childhood ethos entails a code of ethics or the guiding principles that influence our character or behavior when dealing with children or young individuals. Childhood ethos includes but is not limited to providing care, security or an exciting environment for child development or learning. A child’s environment would affect their, social, emotional as well as mental well- being (Brown et al., 2011, pp.117-131). A child needs a healthy environment to promote their healthy development. Having worked with children for a period not less than ten years, I can assure you that a child needs to be in a healthy environment to enhance their proper development. Children are vulnerable, and research proves that if the early stages of a child get tampered with, they will affect their future.

A child’s emotional development ought to get protected from infancy to adulthood (Smith, 2011). Useful parenting education was crucial in helping me to understand childhood ethos. A child could grow into adulthood under different circumstances. One child would come from a single parent family; another would be the only child, others could get raised through foster care, others got both parents while others have none and some children could get raised in a big extended family.

Families differ in culture. There is always that child that got raised through emotional difficulty and immediate assistance is crucial in the rescue of that family. A child hardly forgets what they went through even in their adult life. Childhood could be full of exciting experiences or sad memories. As much as we may remember specific events, there are those that we hold dear. For instance, my father was a die-hard alcoholic when I was a child. I cannot forget this day he broke all the dishes and we fled in our nightgowns. My mother had no shoes, and we found refuge in a neighbor’s house. This childhood experience made me grow up with a resentment towards men. I now understand that a childhood environment can affect the emotional or social development of an adult.

Another childhood experience that I recall was the day I met a beggar on my way, and he stretched out his hand asking for money. The beggar being grateful told me always to help the poor and learn to associate with the people infested with jiggers. No matter how dirty a person may be, I should never overlook them. I vowed to be a humble person and never despise other people no matter how old, dirty or weak they may seem. What I learned in my childhood shaped my adulthood, and it is almost impossible to forget the virtues that I acquired in my youth. This experience taught me to be fast in response and to be keen on details. It is more natural to correct a child’s behavior when they are young than when they are adults (Kielsmeier, 2011). Paying attention to childhood life would cut down on the number of adult therapies. We should question the nature of a child’s learning as well as their maturation. Avoidance of toxic childhood environment calls for collective responsibility.

Addressing Person Specification Essential 2 Knowledge of factors influencing and impacting the life children and young people’

Some factors affect a child’s development and their personality as an adult. The physical environment has an impact on the human nature. The physical environment includes the location of the land or the geographical area. A child brought up in the city is likely to have diverse characters from the one that grew up in the rural area. The social environment of a child or a young person also affects them. People learn a lot from the society, which could be the immediate family members or friends. Young people get a lot of influence from their peers and the friends we spend quality time with usually speak about our character. A child would take up all the things they learn from their family members or friends since the child usually learns through imitation.

The cultural environment as well has an impact on the life of the child. Culture could be the tangible or intangible aspects of the society or state. While the visible elements of culture include the way of dressing of a particular culture, the invisible factors include the values or social norms as well as the means of life of the individual within that community. Culture would influence a person’s way of dressing, attitude or behaviour (Trainor, 2010). The biological environment or structure affects the life of a child or an adult. Developmental disorders would make a child behave in a precise manner (Golding, 2010). A person whose pituitary glands are not functional would be different from that of the typical person. This abnormality would change their personality. In addition to these factors, role-playing is crucial in the development of a child or young person. A person reacts to the role or status given to them. If a child grows when their teacher or caregiver tells them they are fantastic, they will act as an impressive individual. Negative comments would affect a child or young person in the way they develop.

Children are likely to misbehave, and their environment plays a crucial role in their antisocial behaviour (MacFarlane & Woolfson, 2013). Children living under poverty risk getting poor role models and are likely to get involved in antisocial behavior. These children could get exposed to violence or illegal activities in their development process. Adult unemployment contributes to inadequate child care and high levels of illiteracy. Child maltreatment could be the physical abuse of the child. The child could get sexually, emotionally or psychologically abused. Child maltreatment could be. As a result of the adverse interaction between the child and the caregiver (Page, Nutbrown, & Clare, 2013). When parents begin to work there are high chances that they could contribute less towards the development of the child. There is a decrease in the number of hours that the parent spends with their children during the stages of development. When a mother advances her education, the children will take her example. The children would see the importance of education. The attitude of the children is likely to change through education. Parents and caregivers need to provide quality time and resources that children need .a family that invests in a child’s education is expected to instill a learning culture in the child. The child becomes more willing to learn, and this would impact positively on the child and even in their behavior at school (Invernizzi, 2016).

Addressing Person Specification Essential 3 Knowledge of the UNCRC and the children’s rights based approach

The United Nations came up with a Convention to advocate for the rights of children (Melton, 2012). The concerns about children’s rights is taking a political perspective. States got into agreement to see that caregivers understand their duties in safeguarding the rights of children as well as their obligation to consider the opinion of children when making choices on matters that affect them. Respecting the rights of a child is not only an efficient pedagogical practice but also an obligation by the law (Lester & Russell, 2010). UNCRC requires that parties give assurance to children capable of formulating their opinion, the chance to express their views openly on the matters that affect them, while giving the views of the child a weighty consideration based on their age and level of maturity. A model of approach guided the effective implementation of the advocacy by UNCRC. Article 12 of the UNCRC advocated for the expression of the views of children as well as the right to have weighty consideration of the views of children (Lundy, McEvoy, & Byrne, 2011). The voice model involves the use of four factors to involve children in when making decisions in relation to the policies by the UNCRC. The first approach is the creation of space to allow the children or youth to express their views in a safe environment .all children affected by the decisions made should be given the chance to speak out (Lansdown, 2010). Children and the youth could get involved in decision making by creating a conducive environment of involvement which includes the space to air their views. Caregivers should assure children of their rights when it gets to airing of their views. Children should get interrogated on matters that are of importance to them and how they would like to be a part of the decision making process concerning that matter. The decision-making should not be biased to the rich and educated children (Hart, 2013). Where possible children should get guidance from adults so as to be make the appropriate choice in the expression of their opinion. The children should get the knowledge that would enable them to voice their opinion. They should also get provided with alternatives to select from. The third child based approach is to give the appropriate audience to the children and the youth. The right of audience would give them chance to air their views to a relevant agency given the mandate to listen. The appropriate audience for the rights of children should become established as well as the process of communication (Jones et al., 2011). The audience should also take action once it receives the views of the child or youth. The fourth child based approach is influence. The views of the children should get weighty consideration. Adults should not only listen to the views of children but also take children views with the seriousness they deserve (Blanchet & Elliot, 2011). As much as the seriousness of an individual is not given, the child deserves to know the actions that were taken in handling their views. Children and the youth should be aware of the decisions that followed and the manner in which their views got taken into account.

Conclusion

Children require an environment of love and care throughout their development stages (Gershoff, 2013). Parents and caregivers should ensure the happiness of their children. Parents and the community play a crucial role in forming the values of the child since they are role models to children and teens. Spending quality time with our children would ensure that we have hands on their development and give us the opportunity to improve the situation day by day. Children should be kept safe with the immediate persons handling them with the most significant concerns about the child welfare as well as their development. Bonding with children when relating with them is highly encouraged to stay informed about matters of the child and ensure that the children are in the safest growing environment. The rights of children should get upheld as advocated by international agencies. The UNCRC proponents that children get involved in decision-making where the decisions made affect them. Children have a right to receive audience and to air their views (Goodhart, 2016). There should be agencies to act on the opinions of children once they get broadcast. Listening to the views of children is not enough. The children need to know the actions that follow once they air their views.

Reference List

Banerjee, R., Weare, K. and Farr, W., 2014. Working with ‘Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning’(SEAL): associations with school ethos, pupil social experiences, attendance, and attainment. British Educational Research Journal, 40(4), pp.718-742.

Ben-Arieh, A. and Frønes, I., 2011. Taxonomy for child well-being indicators: A framework for the analysis of the well-being of children. Childhood, 18(4), pp.460-476.

Blanchet-Cohen, N. and Elliot, E., 2011. Young children and educators engagement and learning outdoors: A basis for rights-based programming. Early education & development, 22(5), pp.757-777.

Boyle, C., Topping, K., Jindal-Snape, D. and Norwich, B., 2012. The importance of peer-support for teaching staff when including children with special educational needs. School Psychology International, 33(2), pp.167-184.

Brown, J., Busfield, R., O’Shea, A. and Sibthorpe, J., 2011. School ethos and personal, social, health education. Pastoral Care in Education, 29(2), pp.117-131.

Gershoff, E.T., 2013. Spanking and child development: We know enough now to stop hitting our children. Child development perspectives, 7(3), pp.133-137.

Golding, K.S., 2010. Multi-agency and specialist working to meet the mental health needs of children in care and adopted. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 15(4), pp.573-587.

Goodhart, M., 2016. Human rights: politics and practice. Oxford University Press.

Hart, R.A., 2013. Children’s participation: The theory and practice of involving young citizens in community development and environmental care. Routledge.

Invernizzi, A., 2016. The human rights of children: From visions to implementation. Routledge.

Jones, P. and Walker, G. eds., 2011. Children’s rights in practice. Sage.

Kielsmeier, J., 2011. Service-learning: The time is now. The Prevention Researcher, 18(1), pp.3-8.

Lansdown, G., 2010. The realisation of children’s participation rights. A handbook of children and young people’s participation: Perspectives from theory and practice, pp.11-23.

Lester, S. and Russell, W., 2010. Children’s Right to Play: An Examination of the Importance of Play in the Lives of Children Worldwide. Working Papers in Early Childhood Development, No. 57. Bernard van Leer Foundation. PO Box 82334, 2508 EH, The Hague, The Netherlands.

Lundy, L., McEvoy, L. and Byrne, B., 2011. Working with young children as co-researchers: An approach informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Early education & development, 22(5), pp.714-736.

MacFarlane, K. and Woolfson, L.M., 2013. Teacher attitudes and behavior toward the inclusion of children with social, emotional and behavioral difficulties in mainstream schools: An application of the theory of planned behavior. Teaching and teacher education, 29, pp.46-52.

Melton, G., 2012. Child advocacy: Psychological issues and interventions. Springer Science & Business Media.

Page, J., Nutbrown, C. and Clare, A., 2013. Working with babies and children: From birth to three. Sage.

Trainor, A.A., 2010. Diverse approaches to parent advocacy during special education home—school interactions: Identification and use of cultural and social capital. Remedial and Special education, 31(1), pp.34-47.

Smith, A.B., 2011. Respecting children’s rights and agency. Researching Young Children’s Perspectives. Debating the Ethics and Dilemmas of Educational Research with Children, pp.11-25.