The Effectiveness of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children - Term Paper Example

NSPCC’s Campaigns or Advocates for Children, Young People, and Families Table of Contents I. Introduction ……………………………………………………..……. 3 II. Process of NSPCC’s Campaign and Advocates for Children, Young People, and Families …………………………………………. 4 III. Effectiveness of NSPCC’s Campaigns and Advocates for Children, Young People, and Families …………………………………………. 6 IV. Conclusion …………………………………………………………... 9 References …………………………………………………………………… 10 – 12 Introduction Founded back in 1884, The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a London-based organization that aims to protect children from cruelty, provide vulnerable families with support, increases the public awareness on child abuse, and campaign for necessary changes in the legislation and government policies related to child protection (NSPCC, 2008a). Recently, the New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) – an independent charity that analyzes charity performance in social welfare reported that there is an estimated 5.5 million adult survivors of child abuse and roughly 80,000 children throughout the United Kingdom becomes a victim of abuse each year. (BBC News, 2007) Butler (2007) reported that NSPCC was able to raise as much as £250 million through public campaigns since 1999 aside from the fact that the independent charity organization received a total of £30 million from the government fund during the past four years. Despite the large sum of money gathered to combat child abuse throughout the United Kingdom, the number of children below the age of 15 years old who die from physical abuse and negligence throughout the United Kingdom has increased from 0.4 to 0.9 deaths per 100,000 children (Guardian, 2003; Unicef, 2003). As part of discussing NSPCC’s campaign and advocates for children, young people, and families, the work and involvement of NSPCC in terms of dealing with young people through ‘child line’ and families will be tackled followed by going through its impact over the life of millions of children, young children, and families. Eventually, the effectiveness of NSPCC’s campaigns and advocates for children, young people, and families will be assessed using a brief one-on-one interview with randomly selected children below the age of 18 combined with the public news and reports of NSPCC’s performance. NSPCC’s Campaign and Advocates for Children, Young People, and Families Launched back in 1986 (NSPCC, 2008k), the main purpose of NSPCC campaigners for children is to give courage to children who have been a victim of domestic abuse to speak up against the person who abuses the child physically, verbally and/or emotionally. With the use of ChildLine and NSPCC HelpLine including its online and text message services (NSPCC, 2008b & 2008d), NSPCC advocates can extend their support to children who need advices on issues related to bullying, sexual, emotional or physical abuse, self-harm, and family-related problems among others (NSPCC, 2008g). Eventually, NSPCC will help the callers to find ways to solve their problems. Given the large number of abused children throughout the United Kingdom, NSPCC is continuously expanding its UK services to help more children. With the use of the money coming from government funds and private donations, NSPCC is able to recruit more than 1,786 volunteers who will respond to the needs of at least 1,100,000 children and 90,000 young people who will be calling the ChildLine 08001111 and NSPCC HelpLine 0808-800-5000 respectively each year (NSPCC, 2008c, 2008d & 2008h). Aside from the fundraising activities, NSPCC advocates are encouraging people from London, Midlands and West, North, Northern Ireland, Scotland, South and East, and Wales to join the organization as volunteer counsellors who will be answering the ChildLine calls (NSPCC, 2008e & 2008i). Each new volunteer counsellor are required to attend the ChildLine’s counselling training course to ensure that they are prepared to answer calls from children and young people. (NSPCC, 2008f) Other volunteer work includes administrative work, fundraising campaigns, switchboard operators, and online counsellors. (NSPCC, 2008g) Aside from extending counselling service, NSPCC is also concern with the need to protect children under a child protection program. For many years, the number of children below 18 years of age who have experienced abuse related to neglect, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse among others who needs to be placed under a child protection plan because of the possible danger that may come directly from their abusers remains high. Despite the fact that no data was taken from Northern Ireland with regards to the number of child protection register for the year 2007, the number of total children registered at NSPCC for child protection between the years 2005 to 2007 reflects an increasing demand. (NSPCC, 2008j) 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 England - 26,600 26,300 25,900 26,400 27,900 Scotland - 2,289 2,245 2,157 2,288 2,593 Wales - 2,234 2,157 2,269 2,163 2,295 Northern Ireland 1,531 1,608 1,417 1,593 1,639 - Total 1,531 32,731 32,119 31,919 32,490 32,788 Source: NSPCC – Child Protection Register Statistics, 2008 Aside from protecting the children from abusive parents and people around them, NSPCC is also extending its services in terms of giving parents some expert advice and tips on how to properly handle their children effectively and/or how to manage the family budget. NSPCC provides the parents and family members the opportunity to participate in a discussion forums with topics related to ways on how they can protect these children from the ‘cyberbullying’ tactics of abusers (NSPCC, 2008l). By allowing parents with same familial concerns to communicate, NSPCC is indirectly promoting a better family life among the people in UK. Effectiveness of NSPCC’s Campaigns and Advocates for Children, Young People, and Families Between the years 2005 and 2006, NSPCC responded to a total of 159,535 ChildLine calls with common problems related to bullying (23%), domestic violence or family-related problems (13%), physical abuse (8%), concern for others (7%), facts of life (7%), sexual abuse (6%), and pregnancy (5%) among other minor concerns (NSPCC, 2008k). Complaints Number of Calls Percentage (%) Bullying 37,074 23 Domestic violence or family-related problems 21,088 13 Physical abuse 12,453 8 Concern for others 11,375 7 Facts of Life 10,658 7 Sexual abuse 9,279 6 Pregnancy 7,700 5 Others (problem w/ friends, partner relationship, sexuality, health, school problem, loneliness, homelessness, bereavement, depression/mental health among others) 49,908 31 Total Number of Calls 159,535 100 All of the children who contacted ChildLine received counselling from NSPCC’s volunteer counsellor. Depending on the seriousness and type of the reported cases, a total of 1,251 children were referred by ChildLine to other related agencies like the police department or the social services (NSPCC, 2008k). As a result of NSPCC’s effective support and determination to protect children and young people from cruelty, the number of reported child deaths caused by intentional and unintentional injury as well as maltreatment decreased from 428 throughout England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland between the years 1997 – 2001 down to 110 in 2002 (Creighton, 2004). Interview Result Upon interviewing five selected children below the age of 18 years old with regards to the effectiveness of NSPCC’s campaign and advocates for children, young people, and families, 3 out of 5 respondents revealed that they strongly agree that NSPCC’s campaign or advocates on child abuse prevention has been very effective in protecting children against violence and maltreatment. One of the interviewee explained that the nationwide advertisement of ChildLine and NSPCC hotline combined with the guidance and support extended to the public has a significant impact in terms of enabling parents, caregivers, and strangers to think twice before physically or mentally hurting these children. Through NSPCC’s teaching and support that has been extended to children and young people, more people learn what to do in case someone abuse them. Another interviewee shared his personal opinion that without the active participation of the NSPCC, abusive individuals will be more determined in causing more physical, emotional, and mental harm to children and young adults. One interviewee revealed that he is unsure of whether or not the NSPCC campaign is effective since he is lucky to have parents who always treat and support him with whatever decision he made in life. Even though he is aware of NSPCC’s massive campaign he has no idea as to whether or not the campaign is really effective in terms of reducing the number of children who experience being abused. The last interviewee do not agree that the NSPCC campaign is effective in terms of protecting these children from domestic abuse because his father continuously use physical abuse as a form of disciplining method. Aside from his personal experience with his father, he explained that the number of abused children throughout the United Kingdom remains high. He also suggest that the UK government should impose serious penalty to anyone who will be reported and proven guilty of harming children instead of leaving NSPCC to do all the work. Conclusion NSPCC is very effective in terms of increasing the public awareness of people on child abuse. Even though the number of cases related to child abuse remains high, the fact that the number of untimely children’s death has significantly decreased over the years is a positive sign showing that NSPCC contributed a lot in terms of protecting the innocent children and young people from environmental harm. Aside from NSPCC’s effort to protect the children, young people, and families, the UK government should continuously support the NSPCC not only in terms of providing the organization with financial support but also consider the non-profit organization’s suggestions with regards to the strengthening of UK legislative and government policies on child abuse law. *** End *** References: BBC News. (2007, July 26). Retrieved September 26, 2008, from Child abuse report urges refocus : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6918432.stm Butler, P. (2007, August 1). Guardian. Retrieved September 25, 2008, from Full stop missing on child abuse: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/aug/01/childrensservices.comment Creighton, S. J. (2004, March). NSPCC Child Protection Research Group. Retrieved September 26, 2008, from Child Protection Statistics: 5. Child Death: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/resourcesforprofessionals/Statistics/CPStats/childdeaths_wdf48754.pdf Guardian. (2003, September 18). Retrieved September 25, 2008, from UK child abuse deaths could be double official figures, says UN: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2003/sep/18/childrensservices.childprotection HomeOffice. (2005). Domestic Violence: a National Report. London: Home Office. NSPCC. (2008a). Retrieved September 26, 2008, from About the NSPCC: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/whatwedo/aboutthenspcc/aboutthenspcc_wda36522.html NSPCC. (2008b). Retrieved September 26, 2008, from Why are we doing this?: The unanswered call: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/whatwedo/childvoiceappeal/WhyAreWeDoingThis/why_are_we_doing_this_cva60201.html NSPCC. (2008c). Retrieved September 26, 2008, from What we will do with your money: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/whatwedo/childvoiceappeal/WhatWeWillDoWithYourMoney/whatwewilldo_cva60217.html NSPCC. (2008d). Retrieved September 26, 2008, from The Results: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/whatwedo/childvoiceappeal/WhatWeCanAchieve/what_we_can_achieve_cva60188.html NSPCC. (2008e). Retrieved September 26, 2008, from Get involved in other ways: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/whatwedo/childvoiceappeal/get_involved_in_other_ways_cva60207.html NSPCC. (2008f). Retrieved September 26, 2008, from Volunteer counsellors: Whatever you do, you could do this too: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/getinvolved/volunteer/childline/volunteercounselling/volunteercounselling_wda56745.html NSPCC. (2008g). Retrieved September 26, 2008, from Online Volunteer: Whatever you do, you could do this too: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/getinvolved/volunteer/childline/OnlineVolunteer/OnlineVolunteer_wda57930.html NSPCC. (2008h). Retrieved September 26, 2008, from Help and Advice: NSPCC HelpLine: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/helpandadvice/helpandadvicehub_wdh45208.html NSPCC. (2008i). Retrieved September 26, 2008, from Projects in your area: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/helpandadvice/whoturnto/projects/projectsinyourarea_wda38365.html NSPCC. (2008j). Retrieved September 26, 2008, from Child protection register statistics: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/resourcesforprofessionals/Statistics/ChildProtectionRegisterStatistics/childprotectionregisterstatistics_wda48723.html NSPCC. (2008k). Retrieved September 26, 2008, from ChildLine in 2005/2006: Key child protection statistics (December 2007): http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/resourcesforprofessionals/Statistics/KeyCPStats/18_wda54614.html NSPCC. (2008l). Retrieved September 26, 2008, from Your Family: Sept - Oct 2008 Issue: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/helpandadvice/yourfamily/your_family_issue_wda33425.html Unicef. (2003, September 18). Retrieved September 25, 2008, from Child deaths from abuse in UK could be double official records: http://www.unicef.org.uk/press/news_detail_full_story.asp?news_id=180 Read More