Australia Institute of Play CEO Hyahno Moser said a new generation of distressed and traumatised kids have been failed by the system.
In preparation for upcoming childhood summit, ‘Secret Lives of Children – What Adults Need to Know’, Mr Moser has scoured Logan in search of courageous and passionate children.
But Mr Moser said the children’s concerns have taken a “significant shift” in the wrong direction.
“Children have been telling us for quite a while they are unhappy with the state of our systems to support them,” Mr Moser said.
“Play, safety, community spirit and connections, and being heard by grown-ups have been a constant area of concern for children since we started the Childhood Summit, but now something new is emerging.
“Many new concerns have emerged in children voices, and mental health and parenting concerns are among the more dominant issues top of mind for children.
“Children miss their parents and seek connection with their significant loved ones.”
Mr Moser has spoken to 49 local children in relation to the summit.
He said some children were living with “unnamed trauma” as a result of trying to re-adjust to a post-Covid world.
“… for many children, Covid surprisingly brought about a positive opportunity to spend quality time with parents: strong bonding, deep connection, heart to heart with immediate caregivers, quality time spent within the villages they reside, with those they most love,” he said.
“Strong and positive connection with significant caregivers is really what all children need as they grow – now it is gone, and they are hurting.”
Mr Moser said society’s systems were failing this generation of children, prompting a rise in mental-health issues, drugs abuse, fear, crime, and poverty.
“The children are worried, and are reaching out for help from their elders and their governments,” he said.
To help these kids, Mr Moser put a call out to the relevant politicians and public servants, inviting them to the summit.
“Some have answered the call, some have declined, and some have not responded at all,” he said.
The 2023 Childhood Summit is on Friday 24 and Saturday 25 June, at Griffith University Logan Campus.
“This is a call to us from the post-Covid child,” Mr Moser said.
