The body responsible for holding hearings for at-risk children has been called on to scrap a controversial recruitment campaign over posters described as "crass" and dehumanising.
Children's Hearings Scotland launched the campaign to recruit new panel members today, but experts say the adverts are misjudged and should be withdrawn.
The posters, which are part of a drive to recruit younger people to sit on Scotland's lay tribunals assessing the needs of vulnerable children, show a bus driver, a catering manager, a leisure worker and a customer adviser with halos over their heads.
They also describe scenarios where the people pictured have helped a young person. One reads: "I helped protect mummy's little punchbag from another beating".
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Critics include the heads of some of Scotland's major children's charities. Mary Glasgow, interrim head of Children 1st tweeted that she was "stunned" at the adverts' depiction of panel members as saints, adding: "We need sensitive, informed panel members who understand it’s not about heroics or power but rather support, understanding and decisions made in the best interests of children and alongside parents whenever possible."
Sally Ann Kelly, chief executive of Aberlour tweeted of the poster with the 'mummy's little punchbag' line: "Surely you need to reconsider this advert @chscotland?"
Surely you need to reconsider this advert @CHScotland? pic.twitter.com/7YAjDOvnOi
— SallyAnn Kelly (@SallyAnnKelly1) August 15, 2018
Meanwhile, several board members and spokespeople at Who Cares? Scotland, the charity for care experienced young people, also voiced their dismay.
Kenny Murray said the adverts were "dehumanising" and misrepresented the problems faced by many young people attending children's hearings.
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"These adverts place societal stigma and judgement against parents who somehow find their family life in front of a children’s panel. When you come in front of a panel it might be because of abuse or neglect. It might not be. When the wording places such emphasis on abuse, what it doesn’t do is place the wellbeing of the child at the centre," he said, in a blog.
i was one of the people they consulted on the design of the posters for this campaign and i highly suggested they changed mostly everything from the wording to even the colour scheming. it’s a shame that they didn’t, but hopefully they’ll retract them.
— alicia. (@castorcl0ne) August 16, 2018
He said the recruitment campaign would add to the stigma attached to young people in care, and might attract the wrong people. "If your advertising seeks to motivate someone through using a halo and very carefully selected narratives in which you place the viewer as a vigilante or a rescuer, who then does that motivate?"
Jamie Kinlochan tweeted: "Folk who want a halo are the folk young people don't need."
Meanwhile Who Cares? Scotland board member Alicia Santana said young people's views of the posters had been ignored.
"I was one of the people they consulted on the design of the posters for this campaign and I highly suggested they changed mostly everything from the wording to even the colour scheming. It’s a shame that they didn’t, but hopefully they’ll retract them."
I've written a blog on the @CHScotland #BeAForceForGood campaign. It focuses on how judgement and stigma as motivators affect me as a Care Experienced person. https://t.co/yR28ue2x0T
— Kenneth J Murray (@kenny_murray) August 16, 2018
Boyd McAdam, chief executive of Children’s Hearings Scotland said the campaign had a difficult balance to strike, but was designed to communicate realities about the demanding nature of being a volunteer for the children’s panel.
“Care experienced people may feel the language stigmatises them, but we have to reflect the realities of the type of cases which can come before hearings. It can be time consuming, and a certain resilience is required, it is a different type of volunteering,” he said.
“In the past we’ve learned that if you don’t send out a strong message, we can recruit people but have a high drop off rate when people find out what is actually involved.”
Mr McAdam said the posters were only one element of a wider campaign which will stress the importance of the decisions panels can make and panel members as a force for good in their local community.
The campaign launched by @CHSscotland to recruit new panel members has generated debate. We knew this would be the case and tested and researched including with young people. My blog https://t.co/94OyPIvgoe sets out our aims.
— Boyd McAdam (@CHSBoyd) August 16, 2018
He defended the ‘halo’ motif in the adverts, adding: “We are not saying panel members are angels by any manner of means . But people do regularly praise the work panel members do. We want to get people to recognise this is a way that they can contribute and make a difference,” he said.
The adverts also aim to attract younger volunteers, he said, with the average age of a panel member being 53. “Young people and those who work with them have told us for a number of years that they want to see panel members closer in age to them. We need more young people involved.”
Duncan Dunlop, chief executive of Who Cares? Scotland, said: "We understand that at different times, people will use different methods to engage members of the public in the discussion. It seems like, on this occasion, the attempts to grab attention have fallen short. I'm hearing from some Care Experienced people that they feel the messages enforce stigma and don't represent what led to them attending Children's Hearings.
" It's important that those people who are uncomfortable with how their experiences have been represented feel listened to and that action is taken to resolve this."
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