Letters: Emotional resilience is key
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The government's Inspiring Communities initiative takes us a step closer to turning around the fortunes of the most vulnerable young people.
Research conducted for Action for Children's Growing Strong campaign found that poor emotional resilience and wellbeing in childhood severely holds children back and significantly impacts on social mobility later in life. This is particularly marked for the most vulnerable, who perhaps haven't had the same opportunities or support as their peers early on in life.
Building self-esteem can help lay the foundations that youngsters need to build a bright future.
Clare Tickell, chief executive, Action for Children
Role of positive stereotyping
The British Youth Council (BYC) welcomes Howard Williamson's column (CYP Now, 2-8 April), which highlighted how positive generalisations such as that of "Generation Einstein" can play their part in challenging negative media stereotyping and promoting positive images of young people.
At every event I attend with young people, the issue of representation in the media and by decision-makers is something that frustrates them. This is from meeting a wide range of young people, from those not in education, employment or training, through to local Guide and Scout groups.
It is going to take young people's voices to change things, and the Respect campaign, launched in 2005 from the BYC and YouthNet Respect report, needs the backing of 1,000 young people. Visit www.pledgebank.com/RespectSpeakUp for more information. By joining forces, we could smash this target.
Emily Beardsmore, chair, British Youth Council
Early years cash welcomed
The introduction of new funding for pre-schools in Northern Ireland is an extremely welcome response to what has been a key manifesto request for my organisation. We are encouraged by this move to match the quality of the infrastructure to the range of services already provided for young children.
It is an excellent opportunity to improve environments for young children, in turn improving their physical and emotional health and supporting young children's learning.
Siobhan Fitzpatrick, chief executive, Early Years
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