It has been just under two months since the formation of the new Government in Jersey.  The Chief Minister, Ministers, Assistant Ministers, Chairs of Scrutiny and Scrutiny Panels have all now been appointed and the personnel landscape for the next four years is now in place.  In all this political moving and shaking, I cannot say that children’s rights have been a dominating theme, but neither can I say that they have been absent from both political and public discussions.  Child grooming, child exploitation, child poverty and off-island placements for care and treatment have all been aired either in the States Chamber or the media or both. 

Is this a good thing?  Well, yes and no.  On the positive side, it is reassuring that children’s rights issues are being discussed, that people are asking questions, conversations are being had and various Government officials are being asked to be accountable and transparent.  Each of these has a role to play in progressing children’s rights.

On the negative side, the framing of some questions and positions have not been so helpful.  Some have raised issues with little or no evidence being cited for the question posed or position held, while others may have caused children and families anxiety and worry about their own circumstances and safety.  Media coverage has added fuel to many flames as well, with the challenge being heavily covered, but with much less attention being paid to the reasonableness or otherwise of the responses. 

For example, public and political discussions on child exploitation were undoubtedly informed and influenced by the public call via this newspaper for an independent inquiry.  Scrutiny then asked several specific questions about the number of children at risk of exploitation and current actions and supports. The headline reporting of the Minister for Children and Families response included that 63 children have been identified as being at risk of exploitation. It was this number, as opposed to the remainder of the answer on services and supports, that caught most people’s attention. 

Is this figure good or bad?  Clearly, it would be ideal if no children were at such a risk.  However, given human nature, complete elimination is probably unrealistic – some people with power will always use this to exploit the more vulnerable. But is this number a good or bad indicator of how Jersey is currently addressing this issue?  How much of this risk is counter-balanced by these children having been identified and services having eyes on them and offering interventions and supports?  What more can be done, and by whom, to further minimise and combat child exploitation? Both the questions asked and how they are answered require careful thought.

The issue of child poverty gives us another example of where the evidence points to various possible interpretations.  Is it a good thing that we know that, as of 2022/2023, one in four children in Jersey is living in a ‘relative low-income household’?  Yes, it is, because it gives us the basis from which to work to improve children’s right to an adequate standard of living.  Is it an acceptable child poverty rate, as it is like that of other high-income jurisdictions such as the UK, Luxembourg and Malta?  Should we be patting ourselves on the back for not having the 29% child poverty rate of Spain or the 30% rate of the USA? This will, of course, depend on how ambitious you are for your children and future generations.  

Is poverty a good experience for one-quarter of Jersey’s children? Absolutely not – it has a lifelong negative influence on virtually every aspect of their development, growth and human rights.  However, it is quite easy to deny the existence of a problem in the absence of evidence, and it is good to see the question of regular statistical data collection, alongside information from professionals, families and children themselves (watch this space on the latter!) being raised and discussed.  It would be even better if it were resolved.  

The point here is that, from a child rights perspective, there is only one right way of doing things – by asking if the rights of our children are being protected and progressed.  Do all children have the right to protection from all forms of harm including exploitation, poverty, and grooming?  Yes, they do, and all other forms of harm as well.  How and when they are provided with such protections is key, and law, policy and practice must constantly learn, adapt and evolve, because forms of harm and how it is inflicted and hidden keep changing. 

I welcome the attention that has been paid to children’s issues and rights in the early days of this Government’s term.  It is good to know that these are on the agenda for some people at least.  We must, however, be sure that we are asking the right questions for the right reasons, that the discussions and debates, political and public, are focussed not just on the problems as we see them – which, in my view, should firstly be from the perspective of the rights of the child and be evidence-based – but also on solutions that are both ambitious and realistic. Sometimes, oversimplifying the questions we ask and answers we give can result in short-term measures, while lacking the necessary accompanying focus on long-term answers to what are societal and systemic problems. 

Most solutions will not, no matter how much we may wish it, develop and fix problems overnight or as quickly as we may like.  This does not mean that we should give up on finding solutions, far from it.  We can’t give up because Jersey’s children - present and future – are relying on us to ask the right questions, give the right answers and find the best possible solutions.