Child Care Laws and Legislation - Paper Example

The lives of the various children all over the globe get sharpened by the proper enactment and implementation of the legislation on childrens right. The United Kingdom and all nations that are members of the United Nations agree to a set of laws that are meant to act as the regulations on the children. Before the application of any of the clauses within the child protection act, it is essential to recognize that a child is defined as any person who is below 18 years old. All children within the United Kingdom are supposed to have equal rights in all situations irrespective of the differences that may occur among them. This assignment discusses how different legislation affects childrens right basing knowledge on the experience gained while working in a nursery setting at Croydon in England.

UN Convention on the Right of Children

The UN Convention defines the childrens right as those necessary things that all the children should be able to have access to in their daily lives. According to the UN Convention, all the children should be accorded equal access to these rights irrespective of their race, culture, status or gender within the society. The UN convention agreement is an essential legislation to my place of work since the nursery is a classic example of an area comprised of mainly of children from different backgrounds.

The children within the nursery are all different. Based on article 15 of UN Convention on Childrens right, all the children have the right to choose their friends. However, their choice of friends should not cause any harm to other people or children. This shows that these rights are intended to give happiness to the children. The liberty to have friends of one's choice is a means of creating joy in the life of the children. This freedom would much help in the social growth of children. This helps me in promoting the well-being of the children. This would be useful in upholding high standards of education among the nursery children. An education system that gives the children an opportunity to make their own decision is critical to their growth process.

Discrimination is considered to be the unjust treatment of the children based on their differences in skin tone, culture, gender, race and other differential features. The legislation gives the teachers an opportunity to identify the hidden strengths and potential of the children without any discrimination. A chance to do the usual activities without being judged based on the culture or place of origin helps to boost the self-esteem of the children. This translates that the children express themselves without any fears. This free expression is useful for identification of talents and potential of children. In situations where the children are denied specific opportunities for whatever reasons, those accorded fewer rights tend to become more fearful and withdrawn thus the inability to exploit their full potential (Gillett-Swan & Coppock, 2016).

Data Protection Act 1998 is legislation that ensures that the procedures of processing information that is related to individuals are regulated, as it relates to disclosure, sharing and also the use of such information in the society. Children are very vulnerable, and they need to be given a chance to adequately express their feelings and put control on the type of information that they access. This legislation is critical as it puts control the type of information that I share with the children in the nursery school (Thompson, 2016). The Act also ensures that I am careful with personal information and those that are intended to the public. The type of information that I pass to the children should be able to impact them positively, and included is the educational knowledge that is essential for their cognitive development in the nursery school.

Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is a law that considers unlawful to discriminate without any form of justification a disabled individual in the society. This act is applied in institutions and schools across the United Kingdom to ensure that disabled individuals are protected. Disabled children are vulnerable to any form of discrimination, and thus the schools must always make any reasonable plans to ensure that disabled pupils are protected from any barriers (Thompson, 2016). This implies that the disabled children should have equal opportunities, just like the others with regards to access to education. The act applies to me personally, as it ensures that I treat all the children equally, and without discrimination whether they are disabled or not. It ensures that the activities that I design for my lessons accommodate the needs of all the children. It ensures that I promote equality of opportunity for children with any form of disability.

Equalities Act in the United Kingdom provides a legal framework for ensuring that the rights of individuals are protected and that it provides advanced equality of opportunity for all. The Act strengthens and harmonizes the current legislation to provide Britain with a discrimination law that protects individuals from unfair treatment and promotes a society that is fair and equal (Thompson, 2016). Equality Act is one of the most common legislation that is applied in institutions to ensure that every individual has access to equal opportunities. The Act also ensures that everyone enjoys opportunities that are exposed to them equally. Even in the nursery school, the act also controls how I carry out my activities while associating with the children (Thompson, 2016). The Act ensures that I treat every child equally regardless their race, religion, ethnicity, origin or their nature. It ensures that I give all the children equal opportunities for learning and also interacting socially with their peers. The Act also controls how I relate to every child, as it ensures that I treat them equally, without any form of discrimination (Thompson, 2016). The Act also dictates how I plan my activities to ensure that all the children access learning opportunities equally.

Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, as amended by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 is legislation that makes a provision for checking individuals that seek to work with children and vulnerable adults, also barring those that are considered unfit for such posts whether in paid employment or even voluntary work. About children, the act gives provision for personal care, healthcare, physical assistance to the child with regards to activities such as washing, toileting, and dressing. It also dictates actions about performing activities and giving specific guidance where such a child may be in need. This act widely applies to my activities in the nursery school considering that at this stage children are still vulnerable and may require a lot of guidance when performing essential actions, especially when they are not in the position to make any decision related to that activity. Learning in nursery requires supervision and proper guidance to ensure that the child receives the right information and direction. Working with children requires that I am extra vigilant of their need and also having the ability to identify a child who finds difficulty performing a specific activity. It calls for patience, care and even understanding of the child. Children have to feel secure with me, and just as the act requires that the same person must carry the activities that are related to the child until the condition is satisfied, I am obligated to comply with such provision.

The Prevent Strategy, as detailed in the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 as legislation ensures that all the relevant authorities and institutions prevent people including children from being drawn to terrorism. Prevent Strategy is one of the governments counter strategy that prevents individuals from becoming terrorists or supporting forms of terrorism (Thompson, 2016). The others include pursuing to stop terrorist attack, protection, and preparing ways for mitigating terrorist attacks. Children need to be protected from all forms and acts of terrorism (Thompson, 2016). The activities include preventing access to information that may create curiosity among children regarding terrorism and even preventing them from accessing platforms that promote terrorist activities. I have the responsibility of protecting children from any form of terrorist activity including access to information. I am also charged with the responsibility of building character among the children on how to become responsible individuals who are for one another (Thompson, 2016). The act gives me the duty to carry out preventive measures such as ensuring children are informed of the negative impacts of terrorism and how to prevent themselves from being victims of such acts.

How Children Protection Act affects how I relate and interact with the children.

The Children Protection Act ensures the welfare and the best interests of the child remain paramount in the society, primarily through support of the family of the child. The family of the child plays a central role in planning and participating in such activities.

Diversity: it the condition of having or composed of different elements. It includes variety, with regards to the inclusion of different types of people originating from different races or cultures in a group or organization.

Equality is the state of being equal or of same equivalent, quantity, measure, likeness, power, status or even degree.

Inclusion: it is the state of being included or being part of a group, or list.

Participation: it is the act of taking part in something or activity or even associating with others in a given relationship.

Democracy: it is a form of government which the supreme powers is vested in the hands of people, and exercised by them either directly or indirectly through a system of representation, involving elections that are periodically held.

Rules of law: it is the principle in which all people and the institutions associated with them are subject to and accountable to the law that is enforced and applied by the principle of the government by law.

Individual liberty: it is the liberty of those individuals who are free from external restraint in the exercise of those rights which are considered to be outside the province of a government to exercise control.

Mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs is an act of respecting the different acts and freedoms of different faiths and being able to tolerate their acts in the society regardless being different from own beliefs and acts.

The main features of inequality and discrimination in the society include the loss of motivation to achieve, missed opportunities that may impact development, unwillingness to take risks, low self-esteem and confidence, confused identity, fear of rejection, stress and even illness (Thompson, 2016). These factors affect the children, families and disability and even special needs programs as it lowers their motivation and ability to compete naturally in the society. When the opportunities are not distributed evenly, people are likely to give up and invite negative energy and might find themselves engaging in activities such as crime and terrorism. Discrimination and inequality initiate hopelessness among children, and it reduces their motivation to learn and socialize in school (Thompson, 2016). Children with the disability may refuse to be associated with others, while families might feel the need to locate to others areas where they feel accepted. These factors have the detrimental effect not only on the individual community but the society as a whole.

The social, economic and cultural factors that impact on the lives of children and the young people include poverty, inequality, discrimination, disab...