This course will explore how children are portrayed on paper with a focus on the
power of blankets statements and labels
About this Event

Children raised by their birth families will have their lives recorded in the memories of
those around them, by their family, by those who love them. A consistent caregiver not
only provides a stable foundation for children to spread their roots and grow, they also
provide a stable external narrative. Children and young people in care will also have
their lives recorded by those around them but the difference is that for many children
in care, especially those on long term care orders, those around them are constantly
changing and so that external narrative comes from a huge list of authors, all carrying
different opinions and motives. This external narrative can paint an unfair and
unbalanced picture of a child. The lives of children and young people in care are
narrated on paper and on electronic systems such as CHARMS. Although foster carers
will record a child’s journey in their memory, when a child moves on from them, those
memories stay in the minds of the foster carer, whilst their paper narrative sticks with
them. This course will explore how children are portrayed on paper with a focus on the
power of blankets statements and labels, encouraging caregivers and professionals to
narrate a child’s life positively rather than focussing on what a child has said or done
wrong. Scott will also pull on his own life experiences, presenting some of his own files,
reflecting on the way he was written about as a child.