EMPOWERING CHILDREN through early education could allow them to voice their fears and equip them with a knowledge of their rights, a health conference in Cork heard yesterday.
Speaking at the Irish Times Health Forum on Children in Ireland, chief executive officer of the Irish Preschool Play Association Irene Gunning said that helping children express themselves required a cultural shift.
Both parents and children could learn practical skills through early childhood programmes, she added.
Responding to a point raised by Ombudsman for Children Emily Logan, who referred to the Savi (Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland) 2002 report which stated children were most at risk in their own home environments, Ms Gunning said the under-six age group needed to be encouraged to express themselves.
“Most of us were reared with a clip around the ear or a smack. But what do parents do when they are not allowed to slap a child? It’s not easy to be a parent and know the right thing to do and parents get stressed.
“It’s a skilful thing to be able to talk to a child, especially in the midst of a tantrum.
“Early childhood care and education is excellent because it brings parents and children to qualified people who are trained to reason with young children,” she said.
Ms Logan pointed out that Irish society had a huge discomfort discussing the vulnerability of children in their own homes and raised the issue of “new entrants into the market of child abuse” as a result of internet opportunities such as Facebook and multimedia channels.
Society’s view of marginalised communities also needed to change, according to the ombudsman, who cited the case of Tracey Fay, who died in State care.
“Some of the language used around the family of Tracey Fay was quite chaotic. The majority of children mentioned in the Ryan report would have come from marginalised communities. I would have a concern for the public response to children like Tracey Fay. We need to challenge ourselves on our thinking around these things,” Ms Logan said.
The debate, which took place at University College Cork, included on its panel Dáil na nÓg representative Ciara Ahern and UCC lecturer in applied social sciences Kenneth Burns.
The discussion was chaired by I rish Timesjournalist Fintan O'Toole.