STAND UP FOR CHILDREN: HERE'S HOW
National Network for Child Care's Connections Newsletter
Polly Spedding, M.S.
Senior Extension Associate
Human Development and Family Studies
Cornell Cooperative Extension
Copyright/Access Information
Have you ever gone to your child's school to negotiate with a teacher, a coach, a guidance counselor, or the principal on behalf of your child?
Have you ever become involved in getting a day care center, an after-school program, or a summer playground organized in your community?
Have you ever worked on a bake sale, a raffle, or any kind of fund-raising drive that would benefit a children's program?
Have you ever voted for - or against - a candidate for political office on the strength of his or her position on children's issues?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you're a person who stands up for children, whether they're your own or other people's. You're an advocate because the word advocacy means to speak or write in support of something or someone.
We sometimes think of advocacy in a purely political sense, as something that people in Washington do. That's part of advocacy. But advocacy is not just something that other people do. It's what we do when we feel strongly about something that affects our well-being or the well-being of our children, our family, our community, or our nation.
Advocacy - standing up for something or someone - is especially important when children and issues affecting children are involved. Children are at the bottom of the power structure. They have no organized voice, no access to bureaucratic or political systems. Children depend on adults to provide for them and to keep them safe. Every time we accept those responsibilities, we are advocating for children.
So advocacy is an action, something we do. It's also a process, and not a very complicated one at that. It's not always easy or quick perhaps, but not really complicated. Several years ago, the Children's Defense Fund, a national organization that has been an effective advocate for children for a long time, summed up the process in these steps:
BE SPECIFIC. Figure out what the problems are and which one you want to work on. Start small. Break the problem down into small, manageable pieces. Then take one piece and start to work on it.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Find out how your children and others are affected by the problem you've identified. Ask yourself what you already know about this issue and what else you need to know. Then, start asking questions. Write down the answers. Keep track of who tells you what. Find out who else is interested in this problem and what they've done or want to do about it. Also, find out who disagrees with you and why. Get the facts you need to back up your own position.
JOIN WITH OTHERS. Think of all the different strategies and methods you can use to make the changes you want. Rarely is there just one way to change things. Effective advocates use a variety of ways to get their point across: organizing, publicity, public education, negotiating, lobbying, grievance and compliance procedures, even court actions. First, try to change things nicely. If that fails, insist.
BE VIGILANT. Keep watching to make sure changes are made and stay made and that they do, in fact, help children. Getting changes made can be hard; keeping them made can be hard, too. Things sometimes have a way of slipping back to the way they were, so you have to keep watch on the practices, policies, and laws that you think are important. If you're not satisfied, start advocating again!
These steps can work for you, whether you're an individual parent standing up for one child or a member of an organization that is advocating for a group of children or their families.
Advocacy takes time, patience, and energy. It also takes commitment and courage. But if we don't stand up for children, who will? For more information on advocating for children, you may want to read: *Speaking Out: Early Childhood Advocacy* by Stacie F. Goffin and Joan Lombardi. This book was published by the National Association for the Education of Young Children in Washington, DC in 1988.
Editors Note: Copy this article and pass out to parents and community representatives. Urge them to work with you on behalf of children in your community.
DOCUMENT USE/COPYRIGHT
National Network for Child Care - NNCC. Part of CYFERNET, the National Extension Service Children Youth and Family Educational Research Network. Permission is granted to reproduce these materials in whole or in part for educational purposes only (not for profit beyond the cost of
reproduction) provided that the author and Network receive acknowledgment and this notice is included:
Reprinted with permission from the National Network for Child Care - NNCC. Spedding, P. (1992). Stand up for children: Here's how. In Todd, C.M. (Ed.), *Day care center connections*, 1(3), p. 5. Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service.
FORMAT AVAILABLE:: Internet
DOCUMENT REVIEW:: Level 3 - National Peer Review
DOCUMENT SIZE:: 12K or 3 pages
ENTRY DATE:: March 1996