MEMORANDUM 42
Submitted by the National Children's
Bureau (NCB)
The National Children's Bureau (NCB) works to
identify and promote the well-being and interests of all children
and young people across every aspect of their lives. It encourages
professionals and policy makers to see the needs of the whole
child, and emphasises the importance of multidisciplinary, cross-agency
partnerships. We also believe that children and young people themselves
should play an active role in developing the policies which affect
them.
We endorse the evidence submitted by the Drug
Education Forum, which works under the aegis of NCB. NCB itself
wishes to focus on four main areas.
1. CONSULTATION
WITH CHILDREN
AND YOUNG
PEOPLE
The Children and Young People's Unit is developing
Principles for Participation which should be endorsed by Ministers
and officials across Government. Children's participation is becoming
an accepted part of many Government initiatives including the
forthcoming National Service Framework for Children, Quality Protects,
DfES support for effective school councils, and the recommendation
to consult with children as part of the National Child Care Strategy.
The fundamental principle under Article 12 of the UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child is that children and young people have
a right to express a view on issues which may affect them.
Any scrutiny of the national drugs strategy
must include contributions from young people themselves. They
are extremely well informed and have a sophisticated understanding
as well as immediate experience of the issues. Children and young
people are best placed to advise on policies and initiatives which
are truly responsive to their own needs, views and opinions—discussions
which can increase their understanding of drugs and their usage,
helping them to develop skills and attitudes so that they can
make informed choices. NCB is pleased to see that the Home Office
is encouraging a more open debate on the policing of drugs. We
urge the Government to include young people in this discussion.
2. SUBSTANCE
USE IS
A PUBLIC
HEALTH ISSUE
NCB believes that any drugs policy must look
at both legal and illegal drug use among young people. Risk-taking
behaviours among the young are multi-faceted, and need to be jointly
considered in the context of their lives within the family and
community1,2. A more holistic approach to policy development round
drug use is necessary to deal with elements ranging from prevention
and education, to health promotion, to treatment—to deal
with substance use as a public health rather than just a criminal
justice issue. We know that current criminal justice measures
do not act as a deterrent to drug use among the young and that
these need to be re-evaluated as a matter of urgency. But the
current steer from Government—implicit in the transfer of
the Anti-Drugs Unit from the Cabinet Office to the Home Office—indicates
that drug use is to be considered within the framework of law
and order. We believe this is short-sighted. Recreational drug
use among the young is common3 so needs to be reviewed within
the context of their lives and tackled across Government. For
example, NCB recommends that the needs of young people who use
drugs be included in the development of the National Service Framework
for Children, the Comprehensive Spending Review's cross-cutting
review of children at risk, and the delivery of Personal, Social
and Health Education (PSHE) in a variety of settings including
Young Offender Institutions (YOIs), supported housing, and of
course schools.
3. TREATMENT
FOR UNDER-16S
The issue of drug-taking remains too closely
linked with the criminal justice system. The potential for community
treatment facilities remains under-resourced—especially
for under-16s, young people using solvents, and for young women
using substances of any kind. Despite treatment targets in the
National Drugs Strategy to improve the range and quality of treatment
services for under-25s, no explicit reference to the needs of
children and young people with regard to drug services was made
in Keith Hellawell's Annual Report 2000-2001. We would argue for
the creation of explicit targets for treatment services, and an
increase in dedicated drug services for children and young people
which offer information, guidance and support in a confidential
setting on a range of substances including alcohol, controlled
drugs, solvents and volatile substances.
4. PARENTS WHO
MISUSE DRUGS
Recently, NCB produced a survey of the second
round of Health Improvement Programmes (HImPs) in partnership
with the NSPCC, The Children's Society, NCH and Barnardo's4. One
of the findings was unsurprising, but of continuing concern. Only
limited attention and resources are given to the ways in which
parental behaviours can impact on children. Although there is
a great deal of attention being paid to smoking, alcohol and drug
taking in the various health plans (which of course reflect national
guidance), the concern expressed for the children affected by
these behaviours is largely confined to unborn babies. The day-to-day
consequences for children and young people who live with such
parental behaviour patterns are largely ignored, and services
remain designed to deal with adults in isolation from their family
environments.
Research evidence shows that the effects of
parental alcohol or drug use on family functioning can be profound,
and that the children can show their distress in the following
ways:
— anti-social behaviour or conduct
disorder;
— problems in school including poor
performance, increased aggression or truancy;
— psychosomatic problems ranging from
bed-wetting to low self-esteem, withdrawal and depression; and
— a higher incidence of their own involvement
with alcohol and drugs somewhat earlier than their peers.
Additionally, the child in this home environment
is at a higher risk from family violence; martial conflict; separation,
divorce and the loss of a parent; and inconsistent or erratic
parenting including neglect5.
NCB recommends that the new drugs strategy highlight
the needs of children growing up in these families or those entering
the public care system due to parental substance misuse, and that
specific strategies be put in place to support them. Children
affected by parental substance misuse should be considered as
children in need and sometimes as young carers in order to trigger
the appropriate assessments and access to services.
September 2001
REFERENCES
1 Green, E, Mitchell, W, and Bunton, R (2000)
Contextualizing risk and danger: an analysis of young people's
perceptions of risk. Journal of Youth Studies, vol.3, no.2 (Jun).
pp. 109-126).
2 Maggs, J L, and others (1997) Psychosocial
resources, adolescent risk behaviour and young adult adjustment:
is risk taking more dangerous for some than others? Journal of
Adolescence, vol.20, no.1 (Feb). pp. 103-119.
3 Balding, J (2000) Young people and illegal
drugs into 2000. Exeter: Schools Health Education Unit.
4 Corlyon, J and others (2001) Improving
children's health 2: an analysis of Health Improvement Programmes
2000/3. London: NSPCC.
5 Velleman, R `Parental alcohol and drug
problems: an overview', pp233-243, in Gpfert, M, Webster, J and
Seeman, MV (ed) (1996) Parental psychiatric disorder: distressed
parents and their families. Cambridge University Press.
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