Âé¶¹Éç

Use Âé¶¹Éç.com or the new Âé¶¹Éç App to listen to Âé¶¹Éç podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Episode details

Radio 4,2 mins

Rt Rev Dr David Walker - 30/08/2021

Thought for the Day

Available for over a year

Good morning. Let’s start with some positive news. Young people have been incredibly resilient during the pandemic. Most 10-17 year olds seem to have coped well with the disruption, according to the headlines of the latest Good Childhood Report. But whilst it may appear that fears that a whole generation of young people might bear long term mental scars have not been borne out, an estimated quarter of a million have struggled according to this latest research by The Children’s Society. The clouds cast by Covid may be lifting, but this tenth annual Report into the state of Britain’s youngsters, is far from entirely happy reading. Over the past decade, even before the pandemic struck, the number of ten to fifteen year olds unhappy with their lives had gone up significantly. Starkly, over the years, boys have become more worried about their appearance, catching up fast with the girls. Unlike lockdown, I fear these are not worries to be whisked away at the stroke of a ministerial pen. They arise within the complex network of peer relationship building that forms the hallmark of adolescence. They are fed both by adults’ attitudes and by the many micro aggressions of teenage life, in person and on social media. Along with those who commissioned the Report, I share the view that adults alone will not provide the solutions to childhood’s problems. So I am encouraged that, increasingly, children’s charities now value the voices of those previously seen simply as recipients of their care, and engage young people both in determining policy and in carrying out practice. Among the 190 plus church schools in my own diocese, I’ve seen impressive programmes training children from the older primary ages upward, so that they can provide peer support to those struggling and to challenge bad behaviour. When they do so they act with an innate authority adults struggle to attain. The challenges the Good Childhood Report identifies will, I believe, best be tackled by all ages working together. But my faith calls me to go further. The story of Jesus, aged 12, conversing in depth with religious leaders in the Jerusalem Temple, reminds me that children and young teenagers can not only be at the heart of tackling the problems of childhood, but have real contributions to offer wider society. Their wisdom may be what we need to engage effectively with climate change, racism, and the many facets of abusive behaviour that scar our society. A wisdom not to be found in just the precocious few, the teen celebrities who may catch the eye of mass and social media, but in classrooms, youth groups, and faith fellowships in every community. And maybe that resilience, tried and tested through Covid, can help our young people keep offering their insights, until the power brokers of my generation sit up and listen.

Programme Website
More episodes