真题,剑灵活力几点更新,迦瓦尔
改善孩子们的生活
在这项任务中，我们将对比三种方式，这三种方式将介入孩子们的童年生活，来研究是否会对他们长大以后产生多多少少的影响和干预。首先，我将简单介绍一下这三种不同的干预方式，还要检测一些仪器是否正常运行。同时，我们也要积极讨论这三种干预方式的优缺点，最后，我们将就这一问题，展开一系列的探讨。这是一个正确的方法吗？这能够提高孩子的参与积极性，改善孩子们的生活吗？
为什么大多数的成年人都觉得有必要介入孩子们的生活？童年时期是一个人成长的黄金时段，这是全球都认同的观念。世界上也有很多的宗教，他们呼吁成人保护儿童免受伤害,例如基督教、伊斯兰教和佛教(开放大学、Ch5 Pg.188)。主要有三个原因，一些人认为，在童年时期介入孩子们的生活可以通过各种不同的方法来更早的塑造孩子们的个性，还有一些人则认为童年是一个脆弱的时期，需要成人保护。然而又有一些人认为童年是一种投资,，更早的投资，当孩子们长大后就会有更早的回报，一些公民甚至把孩子视为一种资源。
Constructions of childhood can affect intervention
改善孩子们的生活-Improving Children's Lives
In this assignment I will endeavour to compare three major approaches of intervention in children's lives and the way in which adults' constructions of childhood can affect intervention. I will initially describe the three major approaches to intervention and examine the different beliefs that were instrumental in the development of these approaches. I will also discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each of these three approaches in regards to intervention. To conclude, I will discuss my opinion regarding the question; is a rights based approach, especially one which promotes child participation, the best way of improving children's lives?
Why do adults feel the need to intervene in children's lives? Childhood is a status which is recognised world-wide and by many, if not all, of the world's religions. These religions have through-out history called for adults to protect children from harm, for example ‘Christianity, Islamic teaching and Buddhism' (The Open University, Ch5, Pg.188) There are three major reasons why adults feel it is in the child's best interest for adults to intervene in children's lives and these reasons have transpired through the different ways adults have constructed childhood. Some adults view childhood as a vulnerable period during which children need protecting, others view childhood as an investment, that by investing in children's lives adults are in fact investing in future society as a whole, and some view children as citizens who have rights and a claim on resources.
Some of the earliest interventions in children's lives stemmed from the construction of children as vulnerable and in need of adult rescue. The romantic discourse, a belief that children are innocent, vulnerable, powerless and in need of adult protection was instrumental in the implementation of early children's charities such as Barnardos (founded in 1866) and Save the Children (founded in 1919.) These charities portrayed children as ‘poor victims of circumstance in need of rescue.' (The Open University, Ch5, Pg.195) There humanitarian response was concerned with their lack of basic necessities such as food and shelter; they were much less interested in wider political issues of poverty. Although this type of intervention does work in the short-term, for example, hungry children are fed and homeless children are given shelter, unfortunately it does not actually deal with the real issues, the underlying cause of poverty and suffering. The Open University states that by ‘conceptualising the child as a victim in need of rescue can decontexualize the social, economic, and political circumstances of child-suffering and does nothing to bring about greater social equality or to tackle the root cause of poverty'.(The Open University, Ch5, Pg.205)Therefore a new approach to childhood intervention was required.
During the 1960's and 70's there was a move away from constructing children as passive victims, to a new approach which constructed children as an investment for the future society or human capital. It was now believed that by providing children with the ‘right resources during the early years would enable children to become productive citizens in the future'. (The Open University, Ch5, Pg.206) Head Start, one of the first early childhood development projects was implemented in 1965 in the US as part of President Lyndon Johnson's ‘war on poverty'. The Head Start programmes' aim was to ‘give poorer children an educational boost in the early years, so that they would be able to compete with middle class children when they arrivedatschool.'(The Open University, Ch5, Pg.209) To this day many early years' intervention programmes are fundamentally about providing all children with the chance to enter society with a fair chance to succeed. There is no doubt that investing in the early years benefits many children by providing children with stronger foundations in the areas of health and education, but it does have limitations. Unfortunately this type of intervention does not benefit all children, for example, the programmes only target children below the age of five, funding is controlled by governments and is only allocated to areas considered in need. Therefore assistance is not available for all children.
Recently there has been a move towards a rights based approach, constructing children as valuable contributors to society, citizens with rights. A rights based approach is one which recognizes all children regardless of age as right bearing citizens. The first specific children's rights document was the 1994 Geneva Declaration which was followed by the 1994 Declaration of Human Rights and, the 1959 United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child. These documents constructed children as weak and dependent on adults and they did not have the power to actually protect children, although they were instrumental in bringing to the attention of the world children's needs and their value to society. In 1989 an international human rights treaty called the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was introduced. This treaty applies to all children and young people aged 17 and under and was the first to take a children's rights based approach. The UNCRC is separated into 54 ‘articles' which provides children and young people with a set of comprehensive rights. These ‘articles' give children social, economic, cultural and political rights; while others set out how governments must implement the UNCRC.
The UNCRC states in article 12 that, ‘all children and young people must be listened to, and have their opinions taken seriously in all decision-making that affects them'. (Article 12, UNCRC) This leads us to participation. Participation is a way through which children are recognised in an adult society as right-bearing citizans. Gerison Lansdown defined participation as ‘children taking part in and influencing process, decisions, and activities that affect them, in order to achieve greater respect for their rights.' (The Open University, Reading, Pg.273) In brief, participation is about adults really listening to children and young adults and taking their views into account when dealing with issues that effect them.
The UNCRC does not clearly express that children have a right to participate, although when read together with other ‘articles' there is a strong indication towards participation. For example, Article 12 grants every person aged 17 and under the right to express their views, and to have these views given due weight in all matters affecting them. Article 17 gives children and young people the right to receive, seek and give information. Article 13 gives every child the right to freedom of expression, using words, writing, art and any other media so long as they respect the rights of others. Article 23 gives disabled children and young people the right to active participation in their community. And Article 2 requires all the rights in the Convention on the Rights of the Child to be implemented for every child, without discrimination. (UNCRC, http.unicef.org/crc/cc.htm, accessed 3/9/05)
For participation to work, children and young adults in many cases have to work together with adults and organisations. Children and young people need access to services that will provide them with information and support enabling them to become knowledgable and confident of their rights. In many countries adults provide support in the form of children's rights commissioners. Gerison Lansdown stated in Audio 8, Band 5 that it is ‘very important that we establish children's rights commissioners. Children as a constituency have no vote, very limited access to the courts, very limited access to the media, and therefore they're not able to exercise the kind of democratic rights that adults are able to exercise.'(The Open University, Audio 8 Band 5, 3:43) Norway was the first country to introduce this system in 1981 and since then other countries have followed in their footsteps. UNICEF states that the children's rights commisioners role is to ‘seek greater justice for the children both by improving access to existing rights and by promoting the recognition of human rights not yet embodied in legislation, culture or day-to-day practice in children's lives.' (The Open University, Ch5, Pg.215). |
