Comments on: The Good Childhood Inquiry in Britain is a flawed piece of misplaced nostalgia http://www.thecommentfactory.com/the-good-childhood-inquiry-in-britain-is-a-flawed-piece-of-misplaced-nostalgia-1923/ Join And Start Writing Today! Sat, 31 Jul 2010 06:44:42 +0100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Raine http://www.thecommentfactory.com/the-good-childhood-inquiry-in-britain-is-a-flawed-piece-of-misplaced-nostalgia-1923/comment-page-1/#comment-3585 Raine Wed, 07 Apr 2010 06:28:41 +0000 http://www.thecommentfactory.com/?p=1923#comment-3585 The problem is there is a real core group of children who are experiencing real psychological and emotional pain and then there are those that jump on the bandwagon and it is these who get the resources while the children that really need it dont get it. This is because the children that really need it are the children who dont have any one to speak up for them which is why they are in such a bad way in the first place. There is lots of really good research being done and the government is putting lots of money into child wellbeing but unless you have experienced mental health problems and have no family you can never understand and unfortunately the so called mental health professionals make the matter worse because they are more interested in their career than the children they should be helping and the accountabiltiy and monitoring of services is just not there. Integrity is a rare thing. The problem is there is a real core group of children who are experiencing real psychological and emotional pain and then there are those that jump on the bandwagon and it is these who get the resources while the children that really need it dont get it. This is because the children that really need it are the children who dont have any one to speak up for them which is why they are in such a bad way in the first place. There is lots of really good research being done and the government is putting lots of money into child wellbeing but unless you have experienced mental health problems and have no family you can never understand and unfortunately the so called mental health professionals make the matter worse because they are more interested in their career than the children they should be helping and the accountabiltiy and monitoring of services is just not there. Integrity is a rare thing.

]]> By: doogiehousefire http://www.thecommentfactory.com/the-good-childhood-inquiry-in-britain-is-a-flawed-piece-of-misplaced-nostalgia-1923/comment-page-1/#comment-1337 doogiehousefire Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:32:15 +0000 http://www.thecommentfactory.com/?p=1923#comment-1337 Listen, buddy. Chicks don't dig insightful exchanges. They dig guys that aren't afraid to tell them what to do and how things are. A guy that doesn't shy away from saying to them that everything is gonna be ok. A guy that can do their thinking for them when it comes to the big decisions like politics, the news and the household budget. So your article is flawed from the start. You should have read the report, not just chatted to some bird. Believe me, I know chicks. They aren't insightful and that's why I never listen to them. Lesson learned. Listen, buddy. Chicks don't dig insightful exchanges. They dig guys that aren't afraid to tell them what to do and how things are. A guy that doesn't shy away from saying to them that everything is gonna be ok. A guy that can do their thinking for them when it comes to the big decisions like politics, the news and the household budget.

So your article is flawed from the start. You should have read the report, not just chatted to some bird.

Believe me, I know chicks. They aren't insightful and that's why I never listen to them.

Lesson learned.

]]> By: moo http://www.thecommentfactory.com/the-good-childhood-inquiry-in-britain-is-a-flawed-piece-of-misplaced-nostalgia-1923/comment-page-1/#comment-1321 moo Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:22:42 +0000 http://www.thecommentfactory.com/?p=1923#comment-1321 Well said Andree Sophia, people have to always talk about human problems as if animal problems are so less important, even if there is human problems it does not justify hurting animals, and after all the harm we as humans do to animals will effect us directly and indirectly that's what people don't realize. Well said Andree Sophia, people have to always talk about human problems as if animal problems are so less important, even if there is human problems it does not justify hurting animals, and after all the harm we as humans do to animals will effect us directly and indirectly that's what people don't realize.

]]> By: Ali Harper http://www.thecommentfactory.com/the-good-childhood-inquiry-in-britain-is-a-flawed-piece-of-misplaced-nostalgia-1923/comment-page-1/#comment-1312 Ali Harper Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:28:19 +0000 http://www.thecommentfactory.com/?p=1923#comment-1312 To take your example of the war veterans: the fact that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has now been recognised as a physical and mental reaction to trauma is essentially, I would say, a positive one (though as I said before it also comes with all of the problems associated with such labels). Those now experiencing flashbacks, elevated blood pressure, heightened anxiety etc are no longer dismissed as cowards but accepted as suffering from an automotive response triggered by trauma, allowing the opportunity to help them to heal. What we need to take issue with is not that our society now recognises these symptoms, but that it condones the awful situations which triggered them in the first place. Similarly with children (and though you say these issues are far removed, children who have been subject to equally terrifying situations such as repeated abuse actually show identical physical and emotional responses to the soldiers you mentioned) it is not the fact that we have identified this unhappiness that we should be concerned with, but the factors that mean that in a wealthy society such levels of child poverty, abuse, isolation and neglect still continue. To take your example of the war veterans: the fact that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has now been recognised as a physical and mental reaction to trauma is essentially, I would say, a positive one (though as I said before it also comes with all of the problems associated with such labels). Those now experiencing flashbacks, elevated blood pressure, heightened anxiety etc are no longer dismissed as cowards but accepted as suffering from an automotive response triggered by trauma, allowing the opportunity to help them to heal. What we need to take issue with is not that our society now recognises these symptoms, but that it condones the awful situations which triggered them in the first place. Similarly with children (and though you say these issues are far removed, children who have been subject to equally terrifying situations such as repeated abuse actually show identical physical and emotional responses to the soldiers you mentioned) it is not the fact that we have identified this unhappiness that we should be concerned with, but the factors that mean that in a wealthy society such levels of child poverty, abuse, isolation and neglect still continue.

]]> By: Ali Harper http://www.thecommentfactory.com/the-good-childhood-inquiry-in-britain-is-a-flawed-piece-of-misplaced-nostalgia-1923/comment-page-1/#comment-1310 Ali Harper Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:27:51 +0000 http://www.thecommentfactory.com/?p=1923#comment-1310 I also have to disagree that the problem lies in the fact that children are encouraged to say something rather than nothing; that they are encouraged into looking for distress that would otherwise not be there. Pain and emotional distress manifests itself in children long before they are capable of such self-reflexive thoughts on their own wellbeing. Whilst this idea might be useful to explain angst – particularly in adolescence and, as you mentioned, under the influence of anxious, well-meaning parents – the emotional problems most children are currently grappling with are generally very real and very serious, and should not be dismissed as anything less. Spend some time with an organisation like Kids Company, or any behavioural problems unit, and you will see the plethora of problems that these kids deal with. Such problems result from inconsistent caregiving, deprivation, abuse and trauma and not from the mere suggestion of unhappiness. I also have to disagree that the problem lies in the fact that children are encouraged to say something rather than nothing; that they are encouraged into looking for distress that would otherwise not be there. Pain and emotional distress manifests itself in children long before they are capable of such self-reflexive thoughts on their own wellbeing. Whilst this idea might be useful to explain angst – particularly in adolescence and, as you mentioned, under the influence of anxious, well-meaning parents – the emotional problems most children are currently grappling with are generally very real and very serious, and should not be dismissed as anything less. Spend some time with an organisation like Kids Company, or any behavioural problems unit, and you will see the plethora of problems that these kids deal with. Such problems result from inconsistent caregiving, deprivation, abuse and trauma and not from the mere suggestion of unhappiness.

]]> By: Ali Harper http://www.thecommentfactory.com/the-good-childhood-inquiry-in-britain-is-a-flawed-piece-of-misplaced-nostalgia-1923/comment-page-1/#comment-1311 Ali Harper Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:27:20 +0000 http://www.thecommentfactory.com/?p=1923#comment-1311 However, whilst the report’s view on the communities of the past was somewhat rose-tinted, it is true that children – and their parents – desperately need the support from and attachment to extended family networks and communities to support a healthy emotional development. Physiologically speaking, it allows them to build the neurological networks which are capable of self-soothing through regulating stress hormones and increasing the interaction of the frontal cortex; allowing the child to be able to deal with stress rather than producing a violent or depressive, dissociative response. The relationship of this to socio-economics is that in a globalised society, people move more, often far from their families and often into large, urban environments away from their local communities. Parents working long hours means children receive even less of this nurturing time which is so essential for healthy development in the early years. However, whilst the report’s view on the communities of the past was somewhat rose-tinted, it is true that children – and their parents – desperately need the support from and attachment to extended family networks and communities to support a healthy emotional development. Physiologically speaking, it allows them to build the neurological networks which are capable of self-soothing through regulating stress hormones and increasing the interaction of the frontal cortex; allowing the child to be able to deal with stress rather than producing a violent or depressive, dissociative response. The relationship of this to socio-economics is that in a globalised society, people move more, often far from their families and often into large, urban environments away from their local communities. Parents working long hours means children receive even less of this nurturing time which is so essential for healthy development in the early years.

]]> By: Ali Harper http://www.thecommentfactory.com/the-good-childhood-inquiry-in-britain-is-a-flawed-piece-of-misplaced-nostalgia-1923/comment-page-1/#comment-1309 Ali Harper Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:26:47 +0000 http://www.thecommentfactory.com/?p=1923#comment-1309 I thought this was a great article in the sense that I feel that it is incredibly important to question the premises that such reports are based on, and the conclusions which stem from them. I also agree with you very strongly that the field of mental health is a variable one, subject to changes in social opinion (The diagnostic manual DSM for example used to site homosexuality as a disorder) and racial bias. Labelling and medicalisation of mental wellbeing can therefore be as dangerous as they are helpful, and professionals are often not as wary as they should be. It is a real mixed bag because, at the same time, advances in neurobiology have meant that it is possible to identify physical symptoms and emotional causes – it is how we treat them that still remains so contentious (and often deeply flawed), and therefore of course the recommendations of such reports need to be consistently questioned. I thought this was a great article in the sense that I feel that it is incredibly important to question the premises that such reports are based on, and the conclusions which stem from them.

I also agree with you very strongly that the field of mental health is a variable one, subject to changes in social opinion (The diagnostic manual DSM for example used to site homosexuality as a disorder) and racial bias. Labelling and medicalisation of mental wellbeing can therefore be as dangerous as they are helpful, and professionals are often not as wary as they should be. It is a real mixed bag because, at the same time, advances in neurobiology have meant that it is possible to identify physical symptoms and emotional causes – it is how we treat them that still remains so contentious (and often deeply flawed), and therefore of course the recommendations of such reports need to be consistently questioned.

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