Promised referendum on children's rights has still to see light of day

The results of a study published this week which shows that 15 per cent of adolescents aged 11-13 show signs of mental disorder is truly shocking and a wake-up call for all those who care for vulnerable young people. If that statistic is not bad enough, we also learn that up to 37 per cent had experienced symptoms of mental health problems at some point in their lives. The findings emerge from a study carried out among this age group in Meath, Dublin and Kildare. In the study, more than 1,100 students got parental consent to fill out a questionnaire as part of the Health Research Board-funded study. It was designed to give a broad outline of how many children may possibly be at risk of a mental illness later in life. According to Professor Mary Cannon, consultant psychiatrist, almost 22 per cent of the youngsters involved in the study seemed to be hitting the 'abnormal' or 'borderline' range, indicating, as she put it, "amber lights". About 200 young people and their parents agreed to do more in-depth inteviews covering a range of potential mental disorders, including depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, and conduct and behavioural problems. There were also questions about obsessive-compulsive symptoms and psychotic-type symptoms. Professor Cannon said the questions were "soft in their approach". One example of a question about depression was couched thus: "Have you ever felt sad, blue, down or empty?" The professor said that if the answer was yes, then that would be followed up with more detailed enquiries, leading up to more serious questions such as if they had ever felt bad about dying or had had thoughts of even killing themselves. There was an overall finding that about 15 per cent of the children fulfilled criteria for a current mental disorder. The commonest mental disorders found in the adolescents were anxiety and depressive disorders which, between them, accounted for 66 per cent of the lifetime disorders among these young people. Many children had more than one diagnosis, 15 per cent of children had two or more disorders, while five per cent had three or more. These figures match up with a study done 10 years ago by UCD Professor Carol Fitzpatrick in north Dublin. All of this ties in closely with the need for a constitutional referendum on children's rights, long promised but which has yet to appear. Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said in February 2007 that he was committed to a constitutional referendum on children though it remained to be decided whether that referendum would take place before the election in that year or after it. He made the comments to mark the publication of the government's wording for the constitutional amendment. A Bill containing the amendment was also published. The Taoiseach said the wording provided a framework within which our law will continue to develop so that it enshrines the highest possible standards of protection for children. "My objective is that we have provisions which are as strong and effective as those possessed by any country in the world not just now, but well into the future," he said, calling on the opposition parties to engage in a process of reflection and consideration about the wording. He said the government's wording would provide an acknowledgement by the State of the natural and imprescriptible rights of all children as well as a restatement of the existing protection of children and parents contained in the current Article 42.5 and the extension of this provision to all children. It would also give legal authority for the adoption of children who have been in care for a substantial period of time if it is in the best interests of those children and ensuring that all children are eligible for voluntary adoption. It would furthermore grant legal authority to secure the best interests of children in any court proceedings relating to adoption, guardianship, custody or access, as well as for the collection and exchange of information relating to the risk or actual occurrence of child sexual abuse. Legal authority to create offences of absolute or strict liability in respect of offences against or in connection with children wouold also be enshrined. A week ago, Justice Minister Alan Shatter said a referendum on children's rights would be held "early in the New Year" as he defended Ireland's human rights record before the United Nations. It will be intolerable if we are to have another false dawn.