Self-Reflection: Obstacles and Enablers to Engaging Families

What are obstacles to constructively engaging families in responding to crises? 

In China's urban communities, children from poor families may encounter discrimination in schools and communities, and the whole family is excluded in the community.  Families  conceal their financial status to avoid being targets of ridicule and discrimination,  which  discourages them from participating in activities that identify them.

Among urban immigrant groups in similar situations, their perspectives and cognitive abilities are also different. For example, in traditional Chinese society, families who hold the idea that "a filial son is born under the stick" may think beating children is a way of education, and do not realize the harm of domestic violence. so they do not trust or resist related activities.

What are enablers of constructive engagement of families in crises? 

If parents feel that participating in the parenting activities organized by teachers and schools, will improve the image of their children and families in the eyes of school teachers, they will be willing to participate.

Parents are also very willing to participate in some parent-child activities that can showcase their talents. And become the managers of on-site activities, not just recipients, which can increase the enthusiasm of family participation.

What is family?

 A family is more than a house, and more than a simple identity of father, mother, and children. The family is a place, and even more so are the relationships within the place.

The family is the place where children grow up and provides various material foundations for their growth. The family is the child's initial living environment, and the emotional interaction between parents and children determines the child's initial social and cultural cognition, interpersonal relationship and emotional response mode.

Nurturing familial relations are protective as they can foster children’s resilience, buffering against the negative effects of adverse experiences. The loving and caring interactions a child has with its caregivers is one of the most powerful engines of resilience.

The family is also the source of risk factors for children's growth. In addition to violence against children in family settings, poor parent-child interaction is a trauma that requires children to heal throughout their lives.

In the environment where I grew up, my mother was mainly responsible for taking care of the family members. She did not go to work, and my father was responsible for earning money to support the family. When I was young, my mother took care of the family's food, drink, clothing and other living needs, as well as basic education, and my father was responsible for playing with the children. Dad took me to work out and do some boys' games, I have a boyish personality.  

The small family I live in belongs to a big family. As the wife of the eldest son in the family, my mother is also responsible for maintaining the relationship of the whole family and taking care of the elders. Mom has a gentle personality and never argues with others. Everyone loves her very much. I was born in a traditional Chinese family.

Self-Reflection： Think now about the context in which you live and work. what is a family in your context? what kinds of family arrangements are typically found in your surrounding and who belongs to each

Self-Reflection: Childhood, Children's protection and Child Agency in my Context.

I am from China, I used to be a teacher for 30 years, and I am also a child protection practitioner for 10 years. As a teacher, I serve children from wealthy urban families and as a child protection practitioner, I support children from  impoverished immigrant families in cities and help minority children in poor remote mountainous areas. What "childhood" and "children‘s decision-making" can vary widely among these groups, but there are some commonalities.

The child is seen as a nuclear individual within the Chinese family thanks to the one-child policy.  The child is viewed like a property of the family, especially in minority areas. for poor families children are expected to contribute to the household income from a relatively young age and might take on all kinds of work, including child labor and exploitation, to fulfill this role. however, the nature, location, and duration of their work is going to change from one context to another. children in Tibetan areas need to dig Cordyceps, a natural medicinal material, and girls in Yi ethnic areas always do embroidery for their own dowry.The girl's dowry will also bring an income to the family, and it is also the source of income for many families to marry a daughter-in-law. Because of the traditional custom of filial piety, after Chinese children grow up, they will still maintain close ties with their original families, including mutual financial support. Wealthy families raise their children as a tool to move up the social class and realize their dreams.

We don't have much voice to say anything about other people's children, and we can't interfere with family children's education. 

• Self-Reflection: Situating Children's Roles in Cultural Contexts