In search of the village…

Robyn Monro Miller goes looking…

I was reminded by a colleague recently of this now well known address by Hilary Clinton ( Senator Clinton now!) at the 1996 Democratic National Convention.

“……we have learned that to raise a happy healthy and hopeful child it takes a family, it takes teachers, it takes clergy, it takes business people, it takes community leaders, it takes those who protect our health and safety, it takes all of us…yes it takes a village”

Hilary Clinton was not the first to refer to the phrase “It takes a village to raise a child” but just how far has Australia come since 1996 in regards to supporting the child, the village and our community?

 The value of a strong and nurturing family and the benefits a child gains from that relationship are immeasurable. However, it must be acknowledged that the impact of other relationships, though they may not equal the value, DO impact on a child’s state of well being.

Since 1996, funds and resources for supporting the village in which children exist have been consistently reduced in cutbacks to Government spending. Our most prominent memory would be the loss of Operational subsidy for children’s services in the mid 90’s and more recently the removal of DAS funding to some of our most isolated OOSH services resulting in some closing their doors for good.

Our national and state government policies for children still draw heavily on the child’s connection to a family. Like a pocession, thousands of pages of legislation and funds are dedicated to the provision of financial benefits and incentives to those who have a child or as incentives to procreate and then the compliance monitoring of these incentives. 

In contrast the provision of safe play spaces for children, support for the establishment of innovative services for children in their middle years and young teens, and focused attention on the development of child friendly communities for ALL children ( not just the under 5’s!!) is minimal and at times non existent.

The focus on financial benefits for families is ignoring the need for a dual focus that provides the infrastructure for the development of people, places and spaces that will provide holistic support for children.

As a result cracks are appearing. Children in their early teens still have no service available to them to access for care while their parents work. Teens with a disability are being placed by default in OOSH services for 5-12 year olds where staff are not trained to cope with the demands of a teenager, children are increasingly gaining weight as places for free play and recreation are not planned out and maintained.
By ignoring the infrastructure we are failing our children.

Unfortunately the plight of children accessing services seems like a luxury holiday when compared to our indigenous children in rural and remote communities.

Australia still maintains an appalling record of failing the village in indigenous communities as evidenced by the 2005 Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
In comparing a baby born in a white community, a baby born in an indigenous community is;

  • More than twice as likely to die before age 14 
  • Over three times more likely to die as an infant
  • Over four times more likely to be under a care and protection act as a child
  • Over seven times more likely to have been placed in out of home care and finally,
  • Over fifteen times more likely as an adult to be sent to prison.

Building strong communities can only be achieved by opportunities for  significant and , sustained community development in our local areas, in the environments and in our schools and OOSH Centres.

As can be seen from the appalling figures from our indigenous communities, money is not always the answer, government commitment that inspires and supports communities has to accompany it.

We must as a nation ensure that we fill the gaps that are leaving our children disempowered and in some instances disadvantaged.

It is time to start asking Australia’s decision makers the hard questions ….

  • What are they doing to address indigenous children’s health and their long term outlook?
  • What are they doing about planning environments where children can have access to safe natural play environments?
  • What action has been taken to address the support and care needs of young teens- particularly young teens with a disability?
  • What commitment do they have to supporting the provision of quality community owned children’s services?   

If we really do all share the dream of raising ‘happy, healthy, and hopeful children’ then we must ensure the community has the resources and the financial capability to provide for those children, only then can we really say that the village is alive and well in Australia.