Cause and Effect – What wrong with the “Old School” ways

Posted by Mark Raw in Childcare Industry

Unless you have been holidaying somewhere off the globe, you cannot have failed to see, and perhaps been affected in some way, by the recent rioting in certain parts of the country.  The geography of the riots tells a number of stories about the root causes of these events, but that is not what I want to share right now.

Given the eventual but effective quelling of these riots by the police, I sat watching the TV wondering why this took so long to deal with.  Even when they found that some of the more extreme tactics worked, they appeared reluctant to use them for fear of the reactions and potential comebacks from the public and/or media.

It would seem that one area where they are not showing any hesitation is in the courts and judicial system.  I don’t ever remember seeing the courts so busy, so organised and so decisive in their sentencing. 

I do wish to be clear that I am not saying they should have soft sentencing, quite the opposite in fact.  Unfortunately the judges and magistrates seem to be giving very harsh sentencing, with the vast majority of these being custodial.  Given the past few years of courts appearing to take a much softer response to criminal activity, this has seemed to shock some people. 

The most vocal are those who are friends of criminals who have handled some of the looted goods, going on about how his/her life is now ruined after receiving a 1½ year sentence for hiding a looted TV.  Forgive me if I am wrong, but I always though that was classed as “handling stolen goods” and therefore an offence that brings with it the risk of prosecution and potentially a custodial sentence if caught.  An individual interviewed on the radio says that he was expecting his friend to get a slap on the wrist as the result of such an offence.  

In my opinion this should signal the start of a wave of changes this county needs to go through to ensure that ‘crime doesn’t pay’.  It was only two months ago that the law changed to allow people to protect their own property without fear that the burglar could sue them for damages if they were hurt in the attempt to eject them from burgling someone’s home. 

Of those who have not met me I am on the right side of 40, but not too young to remember when children were brought up with very simple rules about right and wrong, mostly given to us by our parents and at times grandparents as societal norms had not changed much over the years.  They were quite simply:

• Cause and effect – if you misbehave there will be consequences to deal with.    
• If you get in to trouble at school; you will be in trouble at home.   
• If you show respect, you will earn the respect from others

This was very simple guidance that formed the central core of how we lived and managed ourselves.  The youth of the day did get into trouble, but there was stigma attached to that very difficult age in life, but were we as badly behaved as the young people we have seen looting and rioting?.  An arrested rioter was 11 years old- I was still playing with my Action Man at that age. 

What they seem to lack understanding of, is that there are consequences to actions.  The judicial system is now demonstrating this (in my opinion) in a very clear and firm way that may not seem proportionate, but it’s less about them and their rights, its more about how they have taken the rights from others and how they will take responsibility for this.  If that means six months, a year or more in Her Majesty’s Prisons will that be a lesson learned?

 The next six months will be a very telling time for our country and the youth in particular.  Do they pull themselves back into line and remember that with all the rights they take great pleasure in telling you they have, there are responsibilities too.  Or will it get worse before it gets better- is it up to the youth or us to decide?

Jail Bars and Nail Bars

Posted by Mark Raw in Childcare Industry Harmony Childrens Services

It looks like the issue of ‘Kids behind Bars’ has made it to the mainstream media as it is being shown onBBC1 on Thursday evenings.  It has even caused one desperate mother to contact me to seek advice and guidance.

There has been a lot going on in July, several key reports have been published the main ones being:  The Children’s Society reports on Runaways, http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Social_Care/article/1079987/runaways-must-seen-risk/   The Children’s Homes data pack: http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/families/childrenincare/childrenshomes/a00192000/childrens-homes-data-pack   And the DoE children’s home quarterly news letter: http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/families/childrenincare/childrenshomes/a00192002/a-newsletter-for-the-childrens-homes-sector

The data pack has been a very useful tool to show what is happening within the residential sector over the last few turbulent years. There have been lots of changes and it features some constructive ways to move forward.

The newsletter is a welcome read; it’s been a long time coming that a single document was produced by those who set the national policy.  The two items that I found particularly good were a) engagement with unit managers to share good practice and b) residential homes can be a positive influence on the child if they are ‘person centred’ to facilitate an ‘extended family’ environment.  This is very much in line with what Harmony House has in place and our nurturing approach may mean that we are ahead of the game already.

Harmony House must be achieving what we set out to do, as we have now admitted our second resident and the transition has gone very well so far, with very little or no impact on the existing resident.  I would say this is somewhat down to our keen matching process.  Not as some may say “cherry picking” but by putting the needs and the progress of those already in situ , and making sure that the placement is sustained and not threatened by the need to fill another bed.  Some my say that this is not the best approach to running a children’s home, however in my opinion this is indeed the correct approach. 

I hope that the partnership approach of openness, honesty and mutual respect with Local Authorities and the children/young people has made our current resident’s experience of children’s homes a positive and productive one.  I very much hope this experience provides them with a positive experience which continues to influence them long after they move on from Harmony House. 

The summer holidays are fast approaching, and this is giving us time to get out there and explore what the county has to offer in ways of days out, beaches, theme parks and maybe some overnight visits to explore different places.  The staff remit is to encourage our young residents to adopt the view that the days are not just spent in a warm house, watching TV and going to the shops for more DVDs.

 A big “well done” to our longest term resident who has taken her work experience in a beauty salon to the next level of paid work, with the real possibility of full time employment in the near future.  She has been requested to undertake a nail course and complete the first part of the training, before the next session at the end of August when she needs to practice her nail painting techniques. Needless to say, the female staff members have taken full advantage of this offer and we now have the best manicured staff team in the country….. well the females at least!  To the best of my knowledge the males have not yet had their fingers or toes practiced on as yet, but there is still plenty of time!