 Child
Friendly Initiative
When we think back to our childhood years, how many of us can
remember being treated in public places with kindness, fairness,
and understanding? It is far more likely that we have painful
memories of feeling invisible, or of being seen as a nuisance or
a potential troublemaker. Thanks to the efforts of the Child
Friendly Initiative (CFI), this picture is changing at last.
CFI is a non-profit organization dedicated to "making
real-world spaces friendly to children... by transforming
organizations, neighborhoods, and towns into places that honor
and support children and families". This new organization
grants the Child-Friendly Seal of Approval to establishments
that make "a genuine commitment to designing their public
spaces and staffing plans with children and families in
mind". At the Natural Child Project, we have focused
primarily on parenting education as advocates for children
within the family setting. With its focus on the treatment of
children in public places, CFI brings child advocacy to the
public sector.
For those establishments applying for the Seal of Approval,
CFI suggests such measures as the provision of a clean play area
with safe toys, a comfortable area for nursing and feeding, a
changing table in both women's and men's restrooms, and a
reserved parking spot for pregnant women and new mothers. Less
tangible measures include treating children with gentleness and
respect, acknowledging the presence of a child, offering a
helping hand to parents, and providing staff members with a
basic knowledge about children and their development. The
article "What
it Means to be Child-Friendly"
is an excellent list of
recommendations for organizations and businesses interested in
becoming more child-friendly.
CFI recognizes and publicizes establishments that have earned
the Child-Friendly Seal, raises community consciousness through
public awareness campaigns, works with a panel of national child
development experts, parents, and children to develop criteria
and guidelines for child-friendly spaces, and consults with
businesses, organizations, and municipalities to design
child-friendly places. In these ways, they hope to promote an
understanding of children's needs and to encourage the designing
of public and private spaces to ensure that these needs are met.
Adults have many organizations advocating for their right to
fair and respectful treatment. There are advocates for seniors,
the handicapped, women, gays, single parents, indigenous people,
the poor, and minorities, to name just a few. But the rights of
children in our society have long been ignored, primarily
because they are too young and inexperienced to serve as their
own spokespersons. CFI believes that children should be part of
our world and that it is time to make it more comfortable for
them to be here. Visit their site and consider joining this
important effort.
www.childfriendly.org |
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