I was pleased with the motion at conference on Sunday, where conference overwhelmingly voted to back the SEND education motion. The debate consisted of those who had experienced that system as a child, facing adversity at school, others were parents who had to navigate the system where waits for EHCPs are well over the legal limit, or schools simply do not provide support. In this article, I wish to highlight the issues that a third group face, our young carers.
We are the party of carers, and thus I was disappointed not to see any young carers voices emphasised in this debate, there is a fresh perspective to be had. The SEND education system, as it currently stands, places many more siblings in the position of a young carer. A lack of holiday provision, and a lack of wrap around care for school, plunges many more young people into the position of carers. My brother has a global learning disability, which makes life challenging, not as challenging as others, granted, but certainly not easy! He goes to a special school twenty miles from where we live. My mother is a GP, working until 6pm on certain days. School finishes at 3.15 pm. This is where the problem lies. There is no wraparound care whatsoever. We can feel bored sitting at a GP surgery, waiting, at the best of times. Now, imagine trying to do this as a 9 year old with special educational needs. The solution? I look after him as often as I can.
This is fundamentally a failing of the state. Parents have to work a 9 to 5, yet there is no support for working parents in the system. Who steps in to fill the gaps? Our young carers. There are better things for us to be doing! I am in year 11, this is time that I could spend revising for my GCSEs, preparing for my best shot at life, but instead I am filling the void left by the state. There are many across the country who have the same, or worse experience. Once again, I have it nowhere near terrible, my experience is simply a match stick compared to other people’s flamethrowers. At the same time, there will be others who do the exact same as I do, but do not realise they are young carers. It is these people, especially, we have a moral obligation to help. No-one should have to turn an opportunity or event down, solely because they are caring for someone.
I was really pleased to see the support that F25 garnered at conference, but I also believe it was also important to provide a fresh view which may not have heard at conference.
* Cian Tynan is Carers Representative for the Young Liberals, and a part time carer for his younger brother with learning disabilities.
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7 Comments
Thank you for an important article!
May i recommend a small and relevant book entitled “The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence” by The Care Collective. It does what it says on the cover.
https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2625-the-care-manifesto
P. S. All the best with your G. S. C. E.s, but please bear in mind that, if the worst comes to the worst, you ,with cheerful resilience, will survive a disappointing set of results. Please remember that you are giving a fine recurring gift to your family!
Agreed with most of this article except the idea that the State has failed if it does not step in to provide baby-sitting to fit round when parents work. That’s not how it works. It is not the responsibility of everyone else in society – ie taxpayers – to provide childcare to parents. Parents are responsible for their own children.
That said, I would support a specific income tax allowance to be given to parents (to be used against either’s income tax, or shared) so that families can get help to pay for suitable childcare or choose to work less days/hours and still get financial help for this option
My grandchild most certainly has began to enjoy small achievements with school. I feel all children should have the chance. Loves ballet and music.
@ Mike Peters I’m afraid your two paragraphs effectively contradict each other.
This article points out one of the fundamental problems of our society; that most people are working so hard they have difficulty looking after their families. That puts it simplistically of course, but as Mike Peters says, we need to find ways of supporting families better especially where they have special needs.
As Steve points out another issue is Cian’s need to get the best GCSE results. We have an education system together with employer’s wanting an easy way of judging people, that overemphasises exam results. As a governor, I recently sat on an appeals panel about a youngster with special needs who was to be excluded; a contributing factor to his behaviour with some teachers was the teacher insisting on him working in a lesson when he was in no fit state to do so and would have otherwise sat quietly without disturbing the class. What if an inspector saw the teacher allowing someone not to work?? Are we dehumanising the education system?
@David Raw
I do not believe my two paragraphs contradict – let me explain why.
I argue in my first paragraph that I do not believe that ‘the State has failed’ because providing childcare to fit round when parents work is not the State’s job: it is the responsibility of parents to care for their children or arrange for their care. However I then go on to suggest in my second paragraph that the State could help parents fulfill their caring responsibilities by providing financial support so the parents are more able to make choices that work better for their circumstances. The financial support – I suggest by an income tax allowance to be used by either partner – could allow parents either to choose that one parent will work less and care for children themselves, or to use the money to find a care provider that best meets their needs.
Surely that is not a contradiction?
@ Mike Peters,
“Parents are responsible for their own children.”
Do you mean only the parents or do you mean that the rest of society has a share of responsibility too? If the latter, you are on more solid ground in arguing that there is no contradiction. But then it could be argued that your “its not the responsibility …” sentence is also problematic
These are simply your assertions in any case. The notion of a self contained nuclear family is a relatively recent social construct. It can be argued that a more natural state of affairs is what we see in what some would term more “primitive” societies. There, the upbringing of children is very much regarded as a social endeavour.