Cherishing the Children of Ireland

The 1916 Proclamation was read by Padraig Pearse on the steps of the GPO Easter Monday. It included this aspiration that all children of Ireland would be cherished equally. The UN convention sanctioned by Ireland on the 28th of September 1992, “committed to promote, protect and fulfil rights of children”. Despite these aspirations and commitments, the economic, civil, political and social rights of children are not been met in Ireland today.

Change in Family Models

In the book cherishing all the children equally it is evident of how the structure of the family has changed in the last 100 years. Lone parent and blended families have increased massively. Lone parents struggle to meet the costs of living for themselves and their children. This includes the basics such as housing, food, heating and clothes. This should not be normalized but unfortunately in Ireland today it is. Ireland is not a poor country and government need to carefully consider the allocation of resources to ensure the most vulnerable are protected. There has been a small decrease in consistent poverty rates and more needs to be done to prove the government commitments on child poverty. Blended families in Ireland today are popular, people marry into other families and gain certain custody to the children. Although Ireland s divorce rate is the lowest in Europe, there are still many separated and divorced families in Ireland. In a divorce the decision of child custody is up to the courts to decide, however it is based on the income and living arrangements of each spouse. Children’s needs are not being listened to when it comes to custody, it is evident that if this was the case either spouse could try buy their child’s love and want for them. However, children should have the right to give their opinion on what they want, or think is best for them, after all it is their life.

Insights into the Prevalence of Special Educational Needs

The National Disability Survey Child Questionnaire showed detailed information about the insights explores the extent to which education placements vary by individual student characteristics and supports for children with disabilities in education. It shows that many children with disabilities attend everyday education (72%), a further 13% are in special classes in everyday schools and 15% attend special schools. Previous research for the general school population, shows that the percentage of all children placed in special education in Ireland is less than 5% (Banks and McCoy, 2011; McCoy et al., 2014). Class placements appear to be influenced by the type of disability: for example, children with speech difficulties are more likely to be placed in special education than children with other disabilities. For children with intellectual or learning difficulties, those on the autistic spectrum disorders or intellectual impairments (e.g., Down syndrome) are far more likely to be placed in special education settings compared to children with learning disabilities (e.g., dyslexia, ADHD). In terms of the need for additional resources and supports, children with special educational needs in Ireland are not being met. Although most primary schools have an SNA, generally there is only one per class which is not ideal. For example, there is no replacement if the SNA is absent or sick. Approximately, 10% of children in Ireland with disabilities reported that their needs are not being met in terms of personnel, curriculum and educational needs.

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Child Economic Vulnerability Dynamics in the Recession

In article 27 (UNCRC) children have the right to access adequate food and housing. These needs are not being met in Ireland in 2019. Statistics recorded by focus Ireland show us that in Ireland today (2019, September), there were 10,397 people homeless, living in emergency accommodation including hotels, B&Bs and other residential facilities used on an emergency basis. The total number of children recorded living in these types of situations, recorded in September 2019 were 3,873. “Child homelessness has increased by 400% in the last 5 years” (Focus Ireland, 2019). Although this problem is widespread throughout Ireland the situation is extremely problematic in the Dublin region. These individuals and families have no place to call home and are often doubling and tripling up, staying with friends and relatives as they have nowhere else to go. Their living situation is precarious, unsuitable and unsustainable. “Right now, thousands of children and families are experiencing hidden homelessness living in overcrowded, unsuitable and insecure accommodation because they have nowhere else to go. This experience profoundly effects a child’s social, emotional, and physical development. At a basic level, there is no space to play or do homework, children often must share beds with siblings or parents so there is a lack of privacy and personal space. These children are failing to meet their developmental milestones and falling behind in school. The uncertainty of where they’ll live and seeing the stress experienced by their parents leaves them worried and anxious for their future” (Fergus Finlay). This is another example of children’s economic right not being met in Ireland today.

In Ireland today children and families are living with food poverty also. Kellogg’s carried out a survey in 2015 on the food divide, it showed that over 75% of the 408 teachers stated that an increase in the number of children coming into school starving and hungry than the year before. It is clear that the number of hungry children is increasing everyday “the stark reality of families being forced to live in cramped conditions without proper facilities meant that many children under the age of five were missing out on crucial development. The lack of cooking and refrigeration facilities in hotels and B&Bs meant many parents had no choice but to feed their toddlers pureed baby food well past the time they should transition to eating solid food” (Collette Bennett, a research and policy analyst with social justice Ireland). This is a clear example of food poverty in Ireland, parents are forced to feed their children baby food because of the lack of resources they can use to cook with. This is not only insufficient foods, but it is preventing children learning how to chew properly, which means more health problems here in Ireland.

Conclusion

In conclusion to this essay, it is evident that although there are many changes since 1916, such as Tulsa being established in January 2014, this was a huge turning point in relation to having an independent state agency dedicated to the protection of children’s safety and welfare. There are still many needs of children that are not being met. In my opinion, currently Ireland is in a state of homelessness, and we need to solve this promptly. We need more government aid to help get these family into stable housing. Coming up to Christmas is especially difficult on top of food and clothing, parents cannot provide their children with the gift of Christmas. In my opinion, this is very sad and heart breaking no family or child should ever have to live in unsettling environment. I also believe that all children should have the right to speak freely, they should be entitled to voice their opinion on where or whom they would like to live with. I think, if I was a child and I was in a situation where my parents were divorcing, I feel that I would know what was best for me, I think it is hard enough on a child to go through the pain of seeing this already and surely, if it made their life a little bit easier, they should feel the right to be heard. No child is more entitled than others; every child is unique and special in their own way. We as a society need to make children feel as if everything, they do is normal. Children with special educational needs, from autism to dyslexia, they need and should be cherished and not treated differently because of their disability, however I feel there should be special resources put into place to guide and help them on their way. The government need to act on this in every school across the nation.