Every child matters..........

Prof Aynesley-Green (call him ‘Al’) has recently been appointed the Children’s Comissioner in England – along with three others in the sister countries.

He is reputed to be earning £130 000 pa. The job was originally advertised for only £100 000 pa, prompting critics to say that such a low salary showed a lack of government interest in the post and to warn that such poor remuneration would deter any high calibre candidates from applying for the post ( http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,1074,1453377,00.html).

Al Aynsley-Green is currently National Clinical Director for Children . He is also Nuffield Professor of Child Health at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and at the Institute of Child Health, University College London.

Hearing him speak I can say that he is a witty, enthusiastic man who is passionately committed to making every child count – making the voice of children heard on every level. He says that "outrage" is needed in order to show how children or their carers think they are being failed.

So far so good. Then he shows a picture of Tony Blair stating that his aim is to make children at the centre of the agenda and Prof Aynesley-Green cites various factors which cause obstruction to this type of change in opinion – one of which is ‘opinion exhaustion.’

However, we know what the Government’s agenda are for children and families:

* Increased institutionalisation of children and childcare
* Decreased parental autonomy
* Decreased of children and families to privacy: 0-18y database which will be insecure with no right of appeal regarding erroneous data held on it, ID cards
* Legislation regarding increasingly intimate areas of private family life – despite the right supposedly enshrined in Article 8 of the European Convention for Human Rights
* Forced exodus of women with children out of the home and into the work force by financial incentives being aimed at increasing the use of external, non parental childcare and reduced tax incentives form married people in a family unit (I speak as a single parent here)
* Increased reach of school in terms of reduced holiday spans, increased length of school day as the monolithic, failing school system extends to embrace younger ages for full time ‘education’, breakfast ‘clubs,’ after school ‘clubs,’ ‘holiday’ ‘catch-up’ courses, revealing its actual role as a compulsory child minding and containment exercise.

Prof Aynseley-Green says:

"The creation of a Children’s Commissioner affirms the importance of children and young people and their central role in society. I am honoured to be taking up this position and look forward to working with children and young people, and organisations dedicated to them, to make sure that their opinions count.

"I will be drawing on my experience of working with children and young people to help ensure that those with the power to improve children’s lives do live up to their responsibilities."

"I want all children and young people to know that they can approach me to discuss any matter that affects them, knowing that I will value their opinion. Children and young people have often been ignored in public life and I am dedicating my role to setting that straight."

I put my hand up and said that I was definitely one of those suffering from ‘opinion fatigue’ and although the NSF is supposed to be all about children, so far as I could see it was all talk unless coupled with:

* Recognition of the valuing of the rôle of mothers in caring for their children – there is currently none – unless you happen to be looking after someone else’s child and getting paid for it and
* Action to alleviate the stultifying burden of current schools which are not centres of education but rather centres for child minding and containment.

He said that I needed to change things at my level (by which he meant meetings). I said that I was: I look after my own children and home educate them – consequently I didn’t have time to attend meetings because I actually doing something more important as opposed to talking about it. End of that discussion.

On his way out – to an important meeting in Whitehall - he passed me where I was sitting at the back and said that he thought I was quite right.

So, he says he wants fair resource allocation and a recognition of the societal value of children, mothers of young families and parenting and he says he wants to hear from YOU (one child apparently wrote to him asking how he could stop pigeons from pooing on his dad’s car….) and most of all he wants OUTRAGE - So give it to him.

You can contact Professor Aynsley-Green by e-mailing him at  support@childrenscommissioner.org or by writing to him at the following address: Office of the Children's Commissioner

1G Caxton House, Tothill Street

London SW1H 9NA

(This is only a temporary base for the Office as they are currently looking for permanent office accommodation - when they have new contact details they say they will publicise them widely. They also have a very basic website (main site is under construction) which includes the above e-mail address. The website address is www.childrenscommissioner.org )

It is interesting that although Prof Aynsley-Green is only now canvassing the views of children and their carers ALREADY the plans for extended


schooling – 8am to 6pm and children’s centres (gulags?) are being implemented. Is this what children really want?


Dr Jayne L.M. Donegan MBBS DRCOG DFFP DCH MRCGP MFHom Family Doctor & Homoepath 121 Sunny Gardens Road London NW4 1SH UK