Children in need. I don’t like it.
I mean I LIKE that a huge amount of money raised is put to good use, many really valuable projects rely heavily on CIN, who would object to that? And I LOVE the fun and silliness, and have my own Pudsey stuff and enjoy being involved. But equally is pisses me off.
The sob stories and sad music. I can’t watch them, but worse (from my perspective) is the heavily emotional reactIons I see on social media. If I watch I bawl my eyes out too, but apart from the money aspect is this a helpful narrative? In my opinion no.
In general it’s empathy, understanding and support that’s needed, not sympathy.
These children should be remembered and supported everyday, not just one day a year. They should be remembered by governments and media when they push the benefit scrounger rhetoric. They should be remembered when people plan how accessible their buildings and areas are. They should be remembered when governments are developing policies and completely disregard children with SEN, and are cutting resources. They should be remembered when you’re just nipping into the shops and think it’s ok to block a pavement or borrow a disabled space. They should be remembered in how you talk to your children about disability and inclusion. They should be remembered in how you set up your services and educate your staff. And if we are lucky, these cute disabled children will grow into adults, and adult services are shambolic and a whole other catalog of issues face these adults and their families. They need to be remembered then.
So today and tonight, enjoy, give money, but talk about the situations you see. Comment on the struggles, but remember the girl appearing really sad in the wheelchair because she’s needs something to make her life better, will still have a brilliant life, she just needs some funding. It isn’t sad she’s in a wheelchair, it’s sad she’s having to share a sad story to get the things she needs. If that makes sense?
Apologies for when I get irritated by people sharing “ it’s so sad” “the poor children” “feeling grateful” ”holding my kids closer” those feelings are all perfectly valid, but it’s what you do next that matters.
CIN is too close to home with many of the kids on screen similar to Nate. And then that leads to the discussion around quality of life. Don’t get me started on the societal misconceptions around this.
Not all doom and gloom, just different.
