Do We Really Want Strong and Healthy Children?/Woman & Mother

By Jesper Juul

Do we really want strong and healthy children

In this essay Jesper Juul is asking not only parents but also institutions, policy-makers and experts to take a serious look at what they want with our children and youth because rhetoric and practice seem to contradictive. Jesper Juul is also making clear what a strong and healthy child is and the enormous impact it would have on our societies if we decided to prioritize mental and social health.

Woman & Mother

In this essay Jesper Juul is investigating the role and self-image of women and mothers and expresses his worries that pat of womens mindset as well as behavior is self-destructive. The central section for parents is called What really happens to nice girls where the author is challenging our present values related to the education and upbringing of girls and young women.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Nov 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477226025

Jesper Juul

Jesper Juul (1948) is a family therapist, husband, father, and grandfather. He is a renowned author and sought-after international speaker and the founder of FamilyLab International. Jesper Juul has written numerous books, many of which have been translated into several languages, became best sellers and must-have books for parents and educator alike. Die ZEIT: Jesper Juul is one of the twelve leading enlighteners, thinkers, and visionaries. Der SPIEGEL: Jesper Juul is an “icon of modern pedagogics.”

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www.jesperjuul.com

www.family-lab.com

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Other English titles:

Your Competent Child, published by Balboa Press

DVD Your Competent Child at www.textalk.se

English titles published by AuthorHouse:

Family Time

Family Life

No!

Here I am! Who are you?

Published by AuthorHtouse 08/31/2012

ISBN:     978-1-4772-2602-5 (e)

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Jesper Juul

DO WE REALLY WANT

STRONG & HEALTHY CHILDREN?

A political essay

COVER.tif

FOREWORD

The content of this essay has been with me for many years now but all of a sudden, after having supervised a case within the youth-care system in Germany, I was compelled to sit down and write. It could have been almost anywhere in the world and it is important for me that professionals who read this, do not take the content personally. I know how dedicated and hard you all work and I know how frustrated you often feel about the outcome of your work.

I feel a little like the boy in H.C.Andersen’s fairytale The emperors new clothes by pointing out what is so obvious to many people and yet an almost complete secret to those who make the big decisions in our countries and communities. I think I have this experience because somehow I feel unqualified. I have been working as an employee of and consultant to public organizations within Health – and Social Care for forty years and as a social entrepreneur in the same field for almost as long. I have worked with thousands of dysfunctional as well as very healthy families in several countries, with emotionally disturbed children, youth and adults and the big variety of professionals trying to help these people. I’m confident that most of these encounters have been valuable learning experiences for me as well as for them and still over the last fifteen years I have been witnessing how the policies of different governments have crippled their own organizations, institutions and projects and more importantly a majority of the people who depend on their help.

This has happened almost in spite of the vast sums of money given to these same organizations and the reason is obvious to me – hence the boy who pointed out that the emperor was in fact naked. The reason I doubt my own capacity is, that the policy makers and their many highly qualified advisors seem to be convinced that the emperor is indeed wearing an even extravagant and expensive robe. So let me expose my observations and conclusions and risk the ridicule:

In any public organizations there must exist a relative balance between two contradictory sets of values: The bureaucratic values and the professional values. The bureaucratic values are serving the political and administrative control agencies and the professional values serve the needs of the people. They are contradictive insofar that bureaucracy cannot tolerate errors whereas professions must be experimental and creative in order to develop a maximum of quality and in order to do so must make mistakes and have room for failure. This relative balance does not exist any more. The bureaucratic values have taken almost completely over and the professional values have disappeared.

This constitutes a very delicate balance between what is correct and what is right and at the disturbing status quo is that the distance and the difference between the correct way and the right way has become an almost insurmountable gap. The results are that the people who need (and are paying for) the right professional help or service are no longer getting it. The get only the correct service and help. The result of this fact is stated clearly in any public budget: the services are less and less helpful and the costs are logically enough increasing at an alarming speed. It is also stated on a daily basis in the media when clients, patients and their relatives are documenting the poor quality of public services in all sectors and mostly get the response,