The Green Paper for Vulnerable Children - Ministry of Social ...

Children and young people: Free-form submissionsFree-form submissions from children and young people were largely facilitated by adultsthrough focus groups or schools, with each submission typically representing more than onechild or young person. We received particularly large submissions on behalf of children andyoung people from Barnardos and the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. Given that manyof these submissions were facilitated and, in some cases analysed before we received them,we have reflected the full range of ideas presented but did not apply our methodology toindicate the frequency of these ideas.We supplied schools and other organisations with resources about the Green Paper so they could:• run a discussion with children and young people on some of the issues in the Green Paper• help children and young people to simply and easily record their own ideas and send themin as part of the Green Paper submission process• make links with Te Whāriki and the New Zealand Curriculum.The following section provides the key themes organised under what children and youngpeople said they want from:• a good childhood• parents and families/whānau• communities• the professional workforce• government.Finally, we present what children and young people said about how they want to be treated.A good childhoodChildren and young people said that having a good childhood meant:• having their physical needs met, including food, warmth and shelter• living with their families, and their families being well and able to support them• having their emotional needs met, including being loved, shown affection and havinga sense of belonging and security, of being encouraged and comforted• being seen as unique individuals, including being respected, listened to, treated equallywith their peers (not discriminated against), treated with honesty and truthfulness, and asresponsible people in their own right• having fun with their families and friends• having access to activities and services, with ideas here including having enough foreveryone in the community (free school, health and food)• getting an education, which included school learning and developing skills that wouldallow them to have a bright future.Practice Changes Policy Changes Show Leadership Share Responsibility Children / Young People Executive SummaryThe Green Paper for Vulnerable Children Full Summary of Submissions33