In a well -ruled country, poverty is to be ashamed of, Confucius wrote. A few millennia later, that wisdom still goes on: in the Netherlands 1 in 9 children lives in poverty. These children see the future more gloomy than peers where they have enough to spend at home, and according to the Ombudsman children’s ombudsman, the lives of children who grow up in poverty have not improved in recent years. The Roosvicee Syropriety with the message of a parent to her child-“it will be fine, baby”-appears to be too false: children who grow up in poverty have less future perspective. And that is not only a feeling – of which it is bad enough if you grow up – it has been shown: these children actually have fewer opportunities to develop well.
Reason for the Ombudsman for Children to be at the outgoing cabinet plead For special policy for this group of children. That should not only be about money, but about the entire life of a child. You can give a laptop once or make sure there is breakfast at school, but if the problems are not picked up at home, it offers too little relief and the future perspective will not change substantially.
Trust in the future is not only necessary on an individual level, but also for society. After all, social problems can largely be linked to capital distribution.
In other areas, attention is also needed for the most vulnerable group within society. Not only did the Ombudsman Children came up with an alarming report, researchers also drew conclusions about the State of Youth Care, following the serious abuse of the girl in Vlaardingen last year. “Too many young people do not receive, too late, or insufficient protection, guidance and help,” warned two inspections after they investigated what the state of Dutch youth protection and youth care is in the Netherlands.
The sad thing is that, just like with child poverty, these conclusions are not new. And here too the will is there, but that the bigger picture is missing for the half million children who fall under youth care in the Netherlands. There is insufficient staff and there are too few people who ensure that the staff can perform the work well.
No matter how small the gesture seems, the petition offered to the outgoing cabinet to extend the recording of parental leave from eight to eighteen years old is a good idea. Especially in a period in which a child is in a development phase where, as brain scientist wrote Dick Swaab, “psychopathic traits are very common,” it is good when parents can be involved in what their child is doing.
Attention for a child does not stop when it is in high school, although it is often thought that puberty stands for independence. That a parent is at home to ask after a school day how things will not solve many problems, but it is more than symbolism. Because you wish everyone attention, and children completely. Roosvicee will not be served, but an adult who says “it will be fine, baby,” the future may make it look less gloomy.
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