Speaker: Judge Andrew Becroft, Children's Commissioner
Sport used to be seen as an “extra-curricular” adjunct to a child’s development - good for health, fitness, skill development etc. That was about it. Nowadays we know that there are four key “domains” to develop a resilient child/young person: stability and love at home, positive school engagement, good supportive friends, and active community involvement. Participation in sport is seen as a key way of developing strength in the last three of those “domains”. Truly, “a kid in sport stays out of court”. Involvement in sport also helps build resilience, positively supports child and youth development and increasingly is seen by child and youth experts as integral to turning children and young people into young adults. There are significant opportunities for those in the sporting sector to use sport as a powerful tool to assist child development especially for some of our most marginalised and disadvantaged children. It is time to grasp these opportunities.
Connections 2018 - Judge Andrew Becroft - Sport: The forgotten piece of the child well-being jigsaw puzzle”
1. Why Sport Matters
“Being child-centred. Fad or Foundation?”
Sport New Zealand Connections Conference
29 May, Te Papa, Wellington
Judge Andrew Becroft
Children’s Commissioner for New Zealand
Te Kaikōmihana mō ngā Tamariki o Aotearoa
5. Outline
Introduction – how well are NZ’s children /young people really doing?
1. Challenge : being truly child/youth centred. Fad or foundation?
• What do we mean by child/youth centred?
• What it is and what is isn’t!
2. The importance of sport …!
3. Conclusion
13. Who is most affected by poverty in NZ?
* Using the 60% of median “relative” (not anchored) threshold after housing costs
Source: Household incomes in New Zealand: Trends in indicators of inequality and hardship
1982 to 2016, MSD, 2017, p130
Age
% of individuals in low-income households*
2016
Children 0-17 years 26%
18-24 years 24%
25-44 years 19%
45-64 years 17%
65+ years 14%
Overall 20%
14. We do much better for seniors than children!
Deprivation
rates
Country Overall 65+ <18 ratio
Belgium 11 8 15 1.9
Denmark 5 3 5 1.7
France 14 11 17 1.5
Germany 16 10 21 2.1
Ireland 12 5 17 3.4
Netherlands 5 4 6 1.5
New Zealand 11 3 18 6.0
Spain 11 9 13 1.4
Sweden 3 2 3 1.5
United Kingdom 11 6 16 2.7
EU & NZ reported 2017 from approx 2008 data
18. Graph kindly provided by Health Quality & Safety Commissioner (HQSC)
Child and youth mortality is related to poverty
Mortality rates in children and young people aged 28 days to 24 years by NZ Deprivation Index decile
19. Childhood poverty is related to
mental health problems
• living in poor neighbourhoods
• poor nutrition
• inadequate housing
• adverse events (trauma, accident, illness, disability, delayed
development)
• poor educational outcomes
all put children/young people at higher risk of poor mental health
2017, Child Poverty and Mental Health: A literature review,
CPAG and New Zealand Psychological Society.
21. Outline
Introduction – how well are NZ’s children/young people really doing?
1. Challenge : being truly child/youth centred. Fad or foundation?
• What do we mean by child/youth centred?
• What it is and what is isn’t!
25. Kids want us to listen to them
“Let us have a voice about things
we care about (mental health)
etc” (Secondary student, NZ European)
“Just talk to us, don’t see us as
too hard.”
(Student in alternative education, Samoan)
“Try and get our tiny voice
heard … we have a right to be
listened to on issues that affect
us...” (Secondary student, British)
“I am a library, quiet but filled
with knowledge - it’s dumb
[that I’m not asked].” (Student in
alternative education unit)
Education Matters to Me Report Series - OCC
26. More children and young people’s
voices in sport?
• Do we listen to children and young people? And seek their feedback – at
the start and end of seasons? Surveys/questionnaires/focus groups?
• Do coaches/managers promote mechanisms and spaces for children and
young people to share their views?
• Do we reserve places for young people in management/ government
bodies?
• OCC Website
− Listening2kids
− Mai World
29. Outline
Introduction – how well are NZ’s children/young people really doing?
1. Challenge : being truly child/youth centred. Fad or foundation?
• What do we mean by child/youth centred?
• What it is and what is isn’t!
2. The importance of sport …!
30. 2. The importance of sport
• One of the “big 4” domains in a child’s/young person’s life
̵ home
̵ school
̵ friends
̵ community : sport/cultural activities
• “A kid in sport stays out of Court”
Sign outside Blenheim Airport
• Sport builds resilience/emotional regulation (hugely significant)
˗ model a team ethic
˗ exposure to good/positive role models
˗ self discipline
˗ coping with defeat
˗ connection with “pro-social” friends
˗ learning to be part of an inclusive team culture (Halberg ethos)
31. The importance of sport (cont’d)
• Sport for children and young people – as a means
to building character and life skills (problem
solving, coping strategies, relationship
management).
This requires coaches to be intentional about using
sport for this purpose: as a means to a greater end
rather than just building sporting competence and
success.
32. The value of sport
1. Sport and physical activity can reduce rates of many physical
health related disorders and improve health outcomes as a result.
2. Physical activity and sport support the development of essential
life skills in young people.
3. A positive association between physical activity and the brain’s
physiological responses has the potential to improve cognitive
function.
4. Evidence indicates a positive association between children’s
physical activity participation and academic achievement.
5. Sport and physical activity early in life is positively associated with
maintaining active and healthy behaviours later in life.
33. BUT…there are risks with sport…
• Focus on winning first, at expense of character = a toxic culture
• Toxic culture:
- bad sportsmanship
- sledging/verbal put downs
- success over participation can destroy self esteem
- anger and violence develop if defeat handled badly, rather
than losing as an opportunity to learn
- drug use encouraged
- unsafe diets
• Winning over effort; sporting ability over character
35. Join us via:
@childrenscommnz
Or search for Children’s Commissioner NZ
@OCCNZ
Children’s CommNZ
Sign up on the homepage of our website
www.occ.org.nz
Caveats:
Projections are straight linear fit to four censuses. The projections make no assumptions – i.e. do not take account for changing net immigration rates, birth rates, death rates.
e.g. The total fertility rate for 2015 was 1.99 births per woman – up from 1.92 births in 2014. [has ranged from 1.89 to 2.19 over 1998-2008]
We also had higher net immigration in 2015 and recent years, so the total population is already likely to be higher than the linear projection. But it gives an indication at least.
Proportion of all individuals in low-income households by age,
60% of median threshold (AHC) relative, (not anchored), rolling two-year averages.
Source: B. Perry 2017 Incomes Report (MSD)
The NZ HES (2016) and EU Dep 13 (2015) have been compared, and rates are similar to those in the table above. However, the table only has EU from 2009 and NZ from the Living Standards Survey (2008). The detailed data from the more recent surveys are not yet available.
Can’t get deprivation rates from USA, Canada, Australia etc. because they use non-comparable data or don’t collect it.
EU 13:
Seven household deprivations (enforced lacks)
ability to face unexpected expenses of NZD1500
have one week’s annual holiday away from home
avoid arrears in mortgage or rent, utility bills or HP instalments
have a meal with meat, fish or chicken every second day
keep the home adequately warm
have access to a car / van for personal use
replace worn-out furniture
Six personal deprivations (enforced lacks)
replace worn-out clothes by some new ones
have two pairs of properly fitting shoes
spend a small amount of money each week on oneself
have regular leisure activities
have a get together with friends/family for a drink/meal at least monthly
have both a computer and an internet connection
For each country, the amount is set at a suitable value close to (±5%) the per month national income poverty line (60% of median) for the one person household. There is no adjustment for household size or composition.
ILLNESSES
Respiratory diseases:
Asthma and wheeze
Acute respiratory infections*
Acute bronchiolitis
Other respiratory
Communicable and infectious diseases:
gastroenteritis
Viral infection of unspecified site
Other communicable and infectious diseases
Other conditions
ACCIDENTS:
Falls
Mechanical forces: inanimate
Mechanical forces: animate
Thermal injury
Road traffic crash
Poisoning
Non-traffic land transport crash
Submersion
Involve students in decisions – at all levels of school governance, management and teaching.
Children are experts in their own lives.
You can ask them
For example, children who are transient and have to move schools a lot are disadvantaged. Schools can ask children what they can do to make the transition easier. There are things schools can do to reduce the impact of kids having to move schools.
“Let us have a voice about things we care about (mental health) etc” (Secondary student, NZ European)
“Just talk to us, don’t see us as too hard.” (Student in alternative education, Samoan)
“Let students have a voice in how they learn” (Secondary student, 12, NZ European)
“Try and get our tiny voice heard by MoE we have a right to be listened to on issues that affect us, but MoE don't have to act on those issues.” (Secondary student, British)
OCC website has methods and explanations of how and why you should consult children and young people.
Different methods work well for different ages, abilities and purposes. The website offers six methods for engagement useful for toddlers to young adults.