Children 1st calls for governments to make six crucial commitments to protect children

Scotland’s national children’s charity has warned child poverty is being “normalised” as the charity releases six key calls to all governments ahead of the UK General Election on Thursday 4th July.  

Children 1st has urged governments do all they can to protect children and childhood by making six crucial commitments to make this happen. The charity is urging governments to tackle child poverty, protect children from online harm, invest in early help for families, support children’s mental health, incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into domestic law at a UK level and roll out a consistent approach to supporting children affected by the criminal justice system.  

By taking these actions, Children 1st say governments across the UK can support children and young people to grow up safe, happy, and together with their families.  
 
Mary Glasgow, chief executive of Children 1st said: “Children across Scotland are in crisis. Close to 250,000 of Scotland’s children are officially recognised as living in poverty but we know that is the tip of the iceberg.  

“Unless urgent action on these key pledges is taken, there will be a devastating impact on children’s lives.  

“There are so many emerging risks in today’s world that can harm children. While systems around children and families struggle to protect them from poverty, fear and harm, the world in which they live is changing and presenting more risks. 

“So far in this election, we’ve heard very little about how the main parties will tackle child poverty, keep children safe from online harm, tackle the mental health crisis facing our children and young people or how they will deliver support for the whole family to protect their children from harm. 

“We are calling for all political parties and governments at all levels to put children and young people first to ensure we keep them safe, happy and together with their families and to commit to our six key pledges.”  

The six key commitments are: 

• Tackle child poverty Child poverty is being normalised and is now one of the biggest issues Children 1st deals with, with the charity’s financial wellbeing team seeing a surge of 92 percent in families seeking help last year.  
   
  Children 1st is calling for the next UK Government to remove the two-child cap which prevents parents on a low-income from claiming key benefits for their third and any subsequent children born from April 2017.
  
  
• Protect children from online harm Children say violent and pornographic content is “unavoidable” online from primary school onwards, but too often, regulation struggles to keep up.
  
  Children 1st urges governments across the UK and world-wide to work together to protect children from online harm as a top priority and to prevent risks as they develop, through research, support to children and young people and ongoing regulation. 
  
  
• Support children’s mental health Thousands of children across Scotland are languishing on waiting lists for mental health support.
  
  Children 1st is calling for a UK-wide holistic strategy for children’s mental health that offers community support alongside clinical interventions, so that children and families do not find themselves ‘parked’ on waiting lists.   
  
  
• Invest in early help for families Families are reaching crisis point before they can get help leading to an over reliance on costly child protection interventions. 
  
  Children 1st is calling for a UK-wide strategy to invest in universally accessible, holistic, early help and family support through multi-disciplinary teams in community hubs.  
  
  
• Incorporate the UNCRC into domestic law at a UK level Children 1st is calling for a UK wide incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which would simplify and strengthen protections for children’s rights so that all children, in all circumstances, have their rights fully protected and respected.  
  
  
• Roll out a consistent, high-quality Bairns Hoose Children who are victims and witnesses are traumatised by their experiences in the criminal justice system, as they are asked to repeat their stories over and over, while facing delays and adjournments. 
  
  Rolling out support based on Bairns Hoose would ensure that children can share their stories and pre-record their evidence, so they are not asked to go to court unless absolutely and unavoidably necessary.
  
  

To read the full call to government, please click the link below.