Wellbeing of Children and Implementation of Child-Centred Policies - Term Paper Example

PARENTS AND CARERS’ INVOLVEMENT IN THE WELLBEING OF CHILDREN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CHILD-CENTRED POLICIES Contents Introduction 3 Services for Children and Role of Parents/Carers 3 Barriers in Involving Parents/Carers 4 Solution to Problems relating to Parents/Carers 5 Conclusion 6 Bibliography 8 Introduction Parents and carers are central in the plans of various public institutions and laws that will be put forward to help children in different forms. This include various processes and systems that come together to help children to get a better and improved life. The aim of this paper is to examine the role of parents and carers in the proper implementation of plans for children. In order to do this, the various services for children will be examined and the role of parents will be reviewed and analysed. Also, the barriers and limitations encountered in integrating parents and carers will be examined and reviewed. Services for Children and Role of Parents/Carers In most interventions relating to children, it is apparent that children are deemed to be persons who cannot take independent decisions and lack the legal capacity to undertake numerous responsibilities. Hence, most of the obligations and responsibilities that are placed on children in developing services and policies for their best interest revert to their parents and carers (Foley & Leveret, 2008). This is because for any practical purposes, any implementation of policy cannot be based on the assumption of the cooperation of children. This is not likely to be reasonable and logical. Hence, parents have responsibilities and obligations to play a legal role take obligations reverts to parents and carers. Therefore, there is a logical situation where parents are required to be given a primary and fundamental role for children. When the obligation shifts to carers, this obligation moves to carers. This creates a mutual relationship that helps the child to be given the right attention and the right training and guidance for the implementation of positive policies to improve their lives. Authorities indicate that adult and children are both opened to dangers and negative circumstances but children are somewhat helpless and less equipped to carry out things in order to deal with the risks and problems that come with dangers (Collins & Foley, 2008). Therefore, it is a natural tendency for parents and children to come up with the best ways of improving and enhancing the ways and manners in which children can be improved. The natural consequence of this is that parents become the automatic custodians of the changes and the modifications that come with policies and the implementation of policies. This puts parents and carers in a position where they are able to deal with the issues and problems the policy addresses and this leads to a situation where a natural consequence is formed and evolves that is based on the centrality of parents. Barriers in Involving Parents/Carers Some parents do not have a positive relationship with their parents. This creates a natural barrier because the children cannot be given any good treatment and there is empirical evidence that such children struggle and go through challenges even if policies are being implemented for their own good (Foley & Leveret, 2008; Woolfson, 1994). The DfES policy for children sought to present children as partners who will be understood and treated fairly by their parents and carers. Hence, there is also the obligation for parents to take care to understand children and their rights in order to give them the best in everything. Many parents lack that capacity to examine and evaluate the true needs of these children and this leads to problems and issues that relates to difficulties in implementing policies relating to children in such homes (Woolfson, 1994). Another issues with parents and carers relates to the fact that each of these groups of stakeholders work in isolation with little partnership and connection (Foley & Leveret, 2008). This is because parents are often so busy or unconcerned about what happens in school. Thus, they both work in isolation without assisting each other to attain results. Hence, they come up with different solutions to the same problem and this might not be complementary, but destructive to the children’s well-being. There are also issues with practitioners being unable to connect to parents and carers and this leads to divergences and challenges in the training and proper nurturing of children. In situations and matters where parents and schools or practitioners are not cooperating, both parties come up with assumptions of how others might be treated – this works sometimes but fails to work at other times (Collins & Foley, 2008). Assumptions like names and other things are used by carers and schools and other practitioners to infer what parents want for their children. This often leads to incomplete information about these children and hence, solutions preferred to children do not work well for these children and it leads to problems and issues for the children (Collins & Foley, 2008). There is also a problem with students with special needs and other disabilities and such children cannot be given the right treatment. This causes challenges for teachers and carers in dealing with children and there are divergences in the way they deal with such persons with special needs. Solution to Problems relating to Parents/Carers The challenges and difficulties in involving parents and children can be dealt with through various approaches and interventions that will enable the parents to become more cooperative and more productive in helping to implement policies (Foley & Rixon, Changing Childrens Services: Working and Learning Together, 2014). The first approach is to get the parents and carers to understand their responsibility as partners with the government in dealing with the best interest of their children. In this process, parents and carers ought to be made to understand that the government’s vision and plan is to attain an end that is no different from what the parents and carers want for their children. Through this, there could be a convergence of the goals of parents and carers. This will usually lead to an improved and enhanced method and system for the training and grooming of children according to the standards and expectations. Once parents and carers understand that they are on the same side of the attainment of a common end, the parents can be taught to understand the fundamental objectives of the plans of the government. This will involve getting parents to understand that raising children is more of one in which children must be treated as important members of the society. Hence, the parents must be given the right treatment and guidance on how to best train and promote their children’s best needs. Concerning carers, there is the need to provide special care and special services to these carers in order to enable them to deal with difficult and challenging situations in order to attain the right and appropriate results. This will often culminate in the presentation of the right methods and support to deal with children who have special needs in order to attain the best results. Also, cooperation between parents and carers ought to be emphasised by practitioners and this will help them to understand and appreciate their obligations and difficulties. Conclusion Parents and carers are central and fundamental to children. First of all, they have a legal obligation to ensure that parents play a role in ensuring the wellbeing of children. Parents delegate this obligation to carers and this forms the basic and most significant aspect of the socialising and upbringing of the child. This obligation makes it imperative for parents and carers to play a central role in the implementation of child-centred policies. This process comes with challenges with parents and carers not understanding fundamental aspects of government policy which include understanding children and treating them with respect. This causes challenges. Other issues like cooperation between carers and parents and lack of clarity cause more challenges for the implementation of policies. It is identified that there is the need for education to promote understanding of parents and carers about these policies. Also cooperation and the provision of specialised support by the government is important in promoting the best interest of children in the society. Bibliography Collins, J., & Foley, P. (2008). Promoting Childrens Wellbeing: Policy and Practice. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. Foley, P., & Leveret, S. (2008). Connecting with children developing working relationships. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. Foley, P., & Rixon, A. (2014). Changing Childrens Services: Working and Learning Together. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. Woolfson, R. (1994). Understanding Children: A Guide for Parents and Carers. Glasgow: Faber and Faber. Read More