Hi colleagues,

as we near the half-term break it’s worth thinking about the many media reports of children being exploited across the country that we see on our screens, across social media and in the newspapers. I tire of seeing the negative reporting in the media with the headlines of children being labelled as “drug dealers” firmly putting the focus on the child and not the perpetrators. We regularly read reports about girls and boys being groomed into gangs to be “gift” boys and girls and the spectre of CSE is not mentioned so much in the media unless it’s a non-recent case that has caught the media headlines.

This method and form of communication cause many of us working within this sector a lot of anxiety as in virtually every instance the child is not given the right to reply or even respond to these reports. However, I do wonder how would a reporter communicate or even listen to a child who has been found in the back of a car after being trafficked halfway across the country or has been sexually exploited by numerous men, would they recognise if a child has a communication difficulty, either being able to speak in the moment or process information.

So often we see children with speech and language disorders overrepresented in the youth justice system, indeed in one area where we often work they have a Speech and Language therapist embedded within their youth justice team which has made a significant difference to the outcomes for the children in a positive manner, this has empowered and helped the staff to be able to communicate effectively with the children as they now understand the barriers that some children face with the perceived simple task of talking and listening.

I speak about language disorders as today (October 14^th) marks World Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) Awareness Day, our good friend Phil Ashford who is a Senior Project Manager at the National Policing Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme (VKPP) has delivered a  briefing to his colleagues regarding DLD and has also kindly shared with us a fact sheet (https://nwgnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/DLD-Factsheet-1.pdf) about this issue that so many children face yet it often goes unnoticed within many of our school’s settings, Phil states “children with the condition are over-represented in YJS and more likely to re-offend, and girls with DLD are 3 times more likely to be victims of sexual abuse than their peers”

These statistics are staggering and show the need for us all to be aware of conditions such as DLD and other speech and language disorders, Phil has also shared a media article below that highlights some of the misconceptions regarding DLD which you may also find interesting and useful.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2017/sep/22/developmental-language-disorder-the-most-common-childhood-condition-youve-never-heard-of

I hope you find this blog useful on this DLD Awareness Day, maybe reflect on the fact sheet and the media article about some of your cases, and don’t forget it affects both children and adults as it is a lifelong condition. So please do share this across your networks and let’s think more about how we communicate with both children and adults and don’t assume that they are processing the information that you may be giving to them.

As always, we are delighted to have a chat about this or any other issues you may have about child exploitation, please do contact me or any of our team on the details below

Kevin Murphy

Safeguarding in Sport Team
NWG Network
Office: 01332 585371

Mobile 07399 449045

Email:  [email protected] 

Secure Email: [email protected]