Poor Kids

[expatinscotland]

Anyone watching?

I have emailed Truevision, told them people on here want to donate so they are going to look at the threads.

suntangirl, sadly there is plently of reason for ss to be involved. Those children are clearly neglected. Basics like food, warmth and clean clothes are things no child should be without. I had plently of cases like this in my old job, and its about finding the reason for it and working though it with families. Giving the tools to help change things.
Sadly the government only provide enough benifits for the basics of life for a family, which is fine but just not doable for long periods of time. Holidays are certainly soemthing and acitivities but these are things governement dont consider. They also failed to reconize the cost of heating, and need to really consider stopping provident being able to charge 2000% APR on their doorstep loans!!

Im not saying they should be removed, but someone should be helping. Heres denfintion of neglect

here

I agree lisa - the children are neglected.

To be wearing a girls school blouse - with pleats at the front, not just a plain one with the buttons on the opposite side, school trousers that are clearly 5 inches too small and no food is neglect.

Its not neglect, its poverty. Clearly the dad wasnt getting all the benfits he should have been if he was living on 400 quid a month. Each day must be a struggle :(

No matter the reason, it is neglect. Yes he wasnt getting the CB he should have been getting for those few months, but clearly it wasnt a new situation bore just out of this issue.
Every child shuld have the basics, food, warmth, clean house, clothes, a bed, access to medical care and treatment and parenting including age appropriate bounderies and duties.

I thought he was doing his best with the cooking and the birthday party. I thought he was great.
My house is cold in the winter. Its pretty messy. Its hard doing everything.

But i agree. Every child should have the basics but with the cap on housing benefit, the loss of dla ctc and various other cuts there will ne more children growing up in poverty.

the thing is, just because its neglect, it doesnt make it his fault. He can only do his best with what he has, therefore the blame firmly falls on the pepole that are meant to help!
I have spent hours before filling out forms for families to get the basics, a fridge, a bed for the kids, carpet, curtains! someone should be helping, clearly they arent, or if they are they suck at their job

Maybe he cant afford to pay back a crisis loan? So darent apply for one.

the cahrity shops near us ahve plenty of school shirts both boys and girls for 20p each as they are inudnated with them. school trousers and skirts as well, and as local donations colours appropriatefor local schools.
this isnt just one charity shop but several.
I have to say that i didn't watch all of th programme so may be speaking out fo turn, but having worked with ss over the years i often found that the parents didnt want to help themselves and would complain that they didnt have enough money for xyz but when offered second hand would turn their noses up at it and say they aren't charity cases. Whilst i do understand that even the poorest of people should have some pride, attitudes like this clearly weren't helping thier children.

Not all areas are the same. Charity shops in very poor areas rarely have much in them. In many cases you need to be able to pay to get the bus to the shops to find the stuff anyway.

Also our local Oxfam is crazy they charge 3.75 for a school skirt, any school skirt. Many of them are only two pounds new.

lisa - i take on board what you are saying. i suppose i mean its more circumstantial neglect rather thet overt neglect/abuse.

i too have never seen school uniforms in charity shops (plymouth)

i can't believe that poor sams school don't step in to help. i have been known to donate dd's out grown school uniform if in vgc to her school, they always seem pleased - i am pretty sure her school would step in and give the carer/parent of a child in similar situation a pair of strides, etc. such lovely kids, really unfair that they are in thier situations

I went and looked. There are 3 charity shops on my high street. Its a working class/poor area. I found 2 school shirts, neither of which would fit any of my kids and both priced at £3.50. I have never seen school trousers. Having said that, dds school does a second hand bin. Its where dds uniform comes from but thees not always the size. Right now she needs a couple of 30 inch school cardis. New they are £15. But theres none in the second hand bin and havent been for months

Charity shops in poor areas never have school uniform because everyone wears it until it disintegrates.

i wouldnt expect uniforms in charity shops much anyway because they are so heavily used.

no cheap uniforms in our charity shops. i liked sam's dad and admired himfforr cooking meals etc..
i have asked him to ask the children if theres a voucher etc they'd like and he is asking them. he has brought up 2 of the nicest children you could meet.

i had it all when my babies were born..lost the lost, purely circumstansial.
if you want rl...then you got it but no one is asking me...
i dont want charity, just to offer a reflection to those kids on the telly.
great kids...as are mine, polite, ps and qs, please and thankyous. why the hell should i be sleeping in the same bed? but no one askesd me that either?

cos i got a laptop? well, thats the only way of reaching out into the outside world.....

I don't think I have ever cried so much at a tv programme. or felt more angry at a society that can allow this to happen. The statistics shown were truly shocking. I will be making my children watch this.
It is hard to know how one could begin to help such families, unless you were able to offer well-paid emplyment (which fitted in with school hours)

It was a graphic demonstration of the term Poverty Trap.

purple I sent you a PM.

I think a lot of the problem are caused by the parents. You need food to live. You do not need TV to live. Yes - you can buy clothes from Charity shops. I do it. I buy bundles of clothes from ebay for my children, and myself. I spend £7 on 6 tops, 2 pairs of jeans, shoes which were like new, all sorts of things for my older son. Brilliant. A lot of it is pride - I don't care aobut that nowadays. We are doing our house up and can't afford to buy clothes in shops, so we don't. Simple. I buy food in cheap supermarkets and we have the odd day out.

Why can the little northern child not have colouring pencils? You can buy them for a pound. Forget TV for 6 hours and buy some colouring pencils, then the next day, do it again and buy some paper! It's all about planning.

It made me cry non stop, as it would be easy to sort out some of their problems. Obviously the damp is a deeper issue, and needs to be sorted out by the council in most cases.

Poor Kids documentary will be shown on BBC3 at 9pm on Wed July 27th. Please pass on to everyone interested.
truevisiontv.com/films/details/63/poor-kids