Chris Grayling has begun a review of the children’s secure estate “with a view to building a much stronger educational heart to what we do with those young people” (‘Youth custody education must be expanded’).
The Standing Committee for Youth Justice welcomes any review of the children’s secure estate that proposes a radically more humane and effective approach. We do not want any under-18-year-old to be imprisoned in a young offender institution and we would like the government to prioritise the welfare and health of children and teenagers in the secure estate, as well as their education.
A high proportion of children in custody have learning, behavioural and speech and language difficulties. These need to be addressed before any formal learning will work. The costs of child imprisonment are inevitably high and these should be reduced by reducing the number of those imprisoned, not by reducing the resources devoted to each child.
Penelope Gibbs, chair, the Standing Committee for Youth Justice
Challenging views on male staff
I was commissioned by the London Early Years Foundation to carry out a research project that sought children’s views on men working in childcare (‘Paedophilia fears ‘deter men’ from working in childcare’).
The research was carried out by practitioners in eight nurseries and involved 23 children and 56 staff, nine of who were male.
We wanted to know whether men offered different kinds of activities to children than women. We gave the children a mixture of choices ranging from physical play to play more stereotypically associated with girls.
The children’s choices were surprising. Although, for example, rough and tumble play is considered to be an activity where men are thought to bring something extra, of the 43.5 per cent of children who chose this activity, none chose to play with a man.
There was a staff perception that men do not add value to reading stories and singing. This was confirmed by the majority of children who chose female staff for these activities. Challenging this view is critical given the worrying data about boys’ literacy skills and the continuing negative attitude that reading is for girls.
We are delighted that four universities and a number of settings have shown an interest in extending this important project.
Sue Chambers, early years consultant
