The time for greetings has arrived, and I can’t help but once again support the cause of children in vulnerable situations in these pages. Why put back on the job the relevance, I would even say the obligation, of acting for children and carrying their words of hope?
Because the news is not good, because their situation is deteriorating, but above all because it is easy to do well and to do better. I dream of the day when the news will be good because the love of children will really be at the forefront of our society, the day when commitments such as “A Quebec crazy about its children” or “Building a caring society for children” will become very real and no longer just empty words of meaning and action.
The picture presented daily by the media leaves no doubt about the inertia of the services offered to children and young people both in our beautiful province and elsewhere in the world. It shows very clearly the shortcomings of the essential services given to children on the one hand, and the non-respect of their rights on the other.
Far from wanting to scare, to undertake a criticism in order, or even to go in search of culprits, it is necessary to make an objective global observation on the eve of this beginning of the year in order to get out of our immobility in the face of to these issues. Above all, it is necessary to arouse a general mobilization for children in order to fill these flagrant gaps.
In all areas of their health, safety, development and well-being, children lack relevant care and services. Hospitals lack staff and space to properly care for children in respiratory distress as well as those in psychological distress. The schools are at the end of everything: staff shortages, demobilization, administrative chaos, building lifespan exceeded. Childcare services remain difficult to access, the quality of services is variable and the lack of competent staff is flagrant. The youth protection system is in crisis and human resources are at a worrying level of exhaustion.
We can add to the array of risks those incurred by many children “at work” lacking guidelines and supervision, those whose lifestyles are disastrous due to lack of access to healthy food, the outdoors and physical education lessons. There is even more, when we consider the many social stressors that fuel the disarray and distress of young people increasingly overcome by toxic anxiety: the planet and humanity are in peril, wars are on the increase in the world, the economic crisis has only just begun and endless violence is wreaking havoc on our streets and around the world.
The picture is very bleak (forgive me for repeating it constantly), but we have to talk about it and recognize the real needs of children and young people. We must bring the priority back to the child as the common thread of all the initiatives that can bring about the changes necessary for a new paradigm of care in their favour.
It is not too late to rebuild a world based on true values and respect for human rights by considering children first, their safety, their development, their way of learning, their medical care, their environment , their future aspirations. We have the tools and the knowledge to do it all together, starting in the living environments (proximity approach and social equity) and pooling our efforts (interdisciplinarity and linking of care and services) .
All that is missing is the motivation and the financial means to get there. No more new studies or new commissions are needed, we must begin to act massively by promoting local resources and investing more in children, first in their communities.
In this respect, the Guignolée Dr Julien 2022 continues with strong popular support until January 15. Our daily work consists of remaking the world, one child at a time, and this sign of confidence from multiple donors and volunteers gives us great momentum to continue our work. Thank you from the heart. It only remains to wish us to do better with the children for 2023 and the following years. Because, yes, it is possible!