Thirty Years of Activism
The thirtieth anniversary of the Early Childhood Project in 2018 is a good opportunity to consider and reflect. In 1988 we planned to combat prejudice and discrimination in the lives of young children and move on to other things! However prejudice, discimination, stigma and bigotry just change emphasis and direction, targeting different cultures and people for old and new reasons, moving through generations.
Gender Issues
Pro-active dads were less common in 1988 and men now working in early years care and education seem less stigmatised even though the numbers haven’t increased massively. Gender bias fluctuates but is still a huge issue. Cultural expectations of what it is to be a girl, a woman, a boy, a man still limit children’s opportunities. Add in very young gender questioning, gender creative children and we still need to inform, support and strive for inclusion.
Trends
Racism, Islamaphobia, homophobia, Transphobia and disability hate crimes still occur ut we now have better legislation, are more aware and better able to challenge.
Trends in parenting styles, the toys available, use of technology, the prevalence of daycare, fewer play opportunities and other cultural and societal changes all influence children’s lives now in ways we could not have envisaged in 1988. What hasn’t changed is a parent or carer’s wish for their child to thrive, be happy, enjoy playing, make friends, be part of a community, grow to understand the world around them and feel valued and respected.
Planning for the Future
Each October, at our Annual General Meeting, we list our plans for the future: we hope to build our financial reserves, become more sustainable and continue to provide work, training and volunteering opportunities.
Our work is illustrated through our annual report and after thirty years it doesn’t change much because we still want to continue to make a real difference in children’s lives!
We want to celebrate children’s achievements, continue to represent children in the city whose voices are rarely heard; keep the importance of learning through play on the agenda and to provide families with really good resources, up to date information and support, all of which we do in the toy library! In the future we want to continue doing what we have done rather well for the first thirty years!