Child Depression

"As many as 1 in every 33 children may have depression; in teens, that number may be as high as 1 in 8" KidsHealth.org 

Just think of that statistic.....
A high school class has on average 25 to 30 children
Primary schools holding 1,000 pupils or more

According to suicide.org every 100 minutes a teenager will take their own life through depression!

Children, what could they be depressed about? all they do is play, run around and have fun correct?
Wrong with the society we are living in there is a lot of pressure being put on teenagers and young children.

Image

Do I look like everyone else?
Nobody likes to stand out especially when your a child. think back to when you was younger, that child that nobody wanted to sit by, well its become worse children feel that they must meet a certain criteria to be accepted into society and is it anywhere when you look at a magazine or switch on TV what are you greeted with ?

Children believe that it is these images to look up to. On the over of a well known children's magazine you will find many pop artists such as this one with Arianna Grande and Katy Perry who also appeared at this years teen choice awards 

Children look up to these women then they see the way they act and are dressed in their music videos 

And suddenly children all over want to have the figure, the clothes, the hair, the attitude and if they don't they risk becoming isolated targets, 

School

You must do well in school, how else are you going to get a good job ?
That one piece of homework will change your life,

You must remember all this information for this exam even if you never use it again.
Failed your English GCSE 5 years ago?  I'm sorry but no jobs available.......

How many times have we been told over and over again how important our school lessons are to uphold a good career?

How many times in your career have you used the important school lessons?

Click photo above to have a greater understanding on how children are becoming so depressed due to school.

Siblings  

Children will look to their older brother or sister as an example of how they can or should live their lives. They'll also use the way they act to better themselves. Often siblings will use each other as targets to become better than or to out-do each other so teachers, family or friends will notice them for being better than the others, This will put pressure onto children as they thrive to become ' The Best Child' and be used as an example by parents when they speak of their children. 

Sport involvement

Children who play sports will at some point endure stress whilst playing, whether it be from themselves, coaches or parents, children will always thrive to be the best at the sport they choose to take part in. A major part of sport is winning and when a child has been brought up on this then that's what they'll always aim for and losing is unacceptable. This alone can cause a lot of stress to children as they will put everything into their effort to win and if they come away with nothing or a loss then they feel they have failed and that it wasn't good enough and will blame themselves for the loss. Parents can sometimes be a distraction at sporting events as when a child knows their parent is watching they feel they have to do well to make their parents proud and that taking part isn't enough, they feel they can't let them down and want to be the best they can, this causes stress upon the child and will undoubtedly cause them to make mistakes which will hinder their self believe and confidence for future sporting events.

With many more factors affecting a child's life this added stress can cause children to reach all levels of depression, children are no longer the children we believe them to be and we all must support children, let them know that its OK for them to fail, its OK for them to be unique and most importantly Its OK for them to be children!

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!!

If you are a child/Young adult that is suffering from depression or know of someone who is, do not suffer alone below are some help sites and numbers to call, they offer advise or somebody to talk to, they will listen and they will understand.

• SupportLine Telephone Helpline: 01708 765200 (Helpline)
  email info@supportline.org.uk
  Confidential emotional support to Children Young People and Adults. Also keeps details of agencies, support groups and counsellors throughout UK
• Breathing Space: 0800 83 85 87 (Area served SCOTLAND)www.breathingspacescotland.co.uk Breathing Space is a free, confidential phone line for people in Scotland who are experiencing low mood or depression. Breathing Space is available to the public every day of the year, 24 hours at weekends (6pm Friday–6am Monday) and 6pm-2am (Monday-Thursday).
  
  
• CALL Community Advice and Listening Line (Wales): 0800 132737www.callhelpline.org.uk Mental health helpline for Wales providing confidential listening support service.
• Childline: 0800 1111
  www.childline.org.uk
• Get Connected: 0808 808 4994www.getconnected.org.uk Free telephone and email helpline finding young people the best help whatever the problem. Can connect a child or young person to any UK helpline where appropriate.

Racism

I came across a poem that a father wrote about his son please take a moment to read.

‘I don't mind my boy getting a few knocks on the pitch

Because it's his choice to play,

I don't mind cuts and bruises

Because they just fade away,

I do mind him getting racially abused

Because it's something that he'll keep.

It hurts more than a cut or bruise because it runs so deep

His background and his colour are not choices that he has made

But he accepts and is proud of who he is

And has no need to be afraid,

He'll stand tall in the taunts of racism and will dismiss the weak

By being better and stronger and turning the other cheek,

He has the backing of his team mates so it doesn't get too much

They will stand united and kick racism into touch’ (RFL)

Now before you continue to read this post close your eyes and imagine that you were this father, that your son had to deal with this issue each time they go to do something they enjoy,

Now close them again and imagine you were his son would you still enjoy the game?

Racism has always been a problem and an issue that dates back to the 1600's sports are trying to minimize this as best as they can they put in place punishments and procedures so that in the event of a racial comment it can be dealt with appropriately. 

Football have their own initiatives when dealing with racism both on and off the pitch. with football being such a published sport they enforced the "Show Racism the RED card UK" and  "Kick it out" witch is sponsored by The premier league as well as many more organisations.

They educate throughout the leagues and also through schools educating children why racism is wrong and why the race of a person dose not define the person it pushes the fact that racism hurts the individual.

Many famous sports role models back these campaigns and appear in posters and adverts in an attempt to help cancel out racism. 

But is it enough ?

With incidents of racism still appearing in sports what more can be done?

Or do we just wait and hope that through teaching in schools that the generations to come will do the right thing ?  

I am not suggesting that it is pointless teaching the wrong doing that racism can have I just have an understanding that our generation was taught the same valuable lesson yet I can still see my fellow peers making racist remarks . 

Will we ever live in a world where race is just a competition on who finishes first? not a reason to comment on the skin colour of a person. 

Where our ethnicity is not guessed because we are White, Black, Pink, Brown, yellow or what ever other colours people believe resembles the skin colour of each individual?

English as a second language.

The Department of Education has stated that “The Government is committed to supporting pupils for whom English is not a first language.” (education, 2013) 

So within this blog I will be discussing English as an additional language and the procedures that are being or have been put in place by current settings to help all children that use English as an additional language in order for them to get the best educational outcome that they can.

Children that use English as an additional Language are not homogeneous and have all got many different needs and are at different stages of development although they may be similar in that they may struggle with the English language the background of each child is unique just like everyone they all have different interests, strengths and weaknesses.

Just because they may speak a different language does not mean that they should be discriminated the same planning should be for each child there for planning should be flexible in order for the child not to feel isolated or different to all the other children that attend the setting this will then help build the Childs confidence  as they will feel part of the group and will lead to their social development not being effected as they will still be in constant interaction with other children of their age and ability.

Also by the practitioners taking into account each child’s interests, valuing and respecting all children at the setting, the children should then pick up that the practitioner is communicating with everyone, this will then help the child in many developmental stages including social development as they see the practitioner as a role model and copy his or her actions this can then help the child later on in life and will help the practitioner gain a bond with the children thus helping them with developing their planning around them. Allowing the education system to take a step forward in stamping out discrimination.

A short movie

Using the Imovie app on an ipad me and two other students made a short clip of what we belived potraid  a student in the 21st century.

When we were thinking about ways to potray this through film, We thought about how others see students.

We came up with a list:

• Alcohol
• Lazy
• Messy

 We then thought about how we see university

• Our identitys to lecturers
• Our identity to the univercity
• out identity to peers 

We then came up with this video.