The importance of understanding children and childhood

Children and childhood are very important and central to green thinking and action given that we are about creating a new ethics - that of securing a decent life for future generations. I was recently reminded by a magazine article of what I think is a very important and significant letter sent to the Daily Telegraph in Sept '06, signed by over 100 prominent public and professional figures on the subject of children and childhood.

The letter, with its massively impressive list of signatories, talks of the way we are neglecting children's emotional and social needs and indicates the depression, behavioural and developmental problems of children. It states that they need real food, real play, real experience of the world first hand, real and quality interaction with the adults in their lives, and time. I highly recommend reading the letter, available from:

http://www.suepalmer.co.uk/articles/Letter.pdf

We have also had the recent very damning report from Unicef

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6359849.stm

which showed the UK at the bottom of its league table of childhood wellbeing.