10 steps to Growing Strong

1. In our Growing Strong campaign, we are calling for any organisation that provides services that affect children to promote emotional wellbeing.

This includes schools, local authorities, the police and the NHS, as well as private and voluntary sector organisations. There is currently good work being done but too often aspirations are not being turned into reality.

2. We want these organisations to talk to children and young people about how the services they provide can help them to develop their emotional wellbeing.

Action for Children believes that all children and young people have a right to participate in decisions that affect their lives. But as well as being consulted, children and young people need to be listened to and to have someone to talk to about their emotions.

3. We want the development of new services that help children cope during critical times in their childhood.

Children and young people are most vulnerable during times of change, such as moving from primary to secondary school, when a family member dies or if there is a serious illness in the family. Services are often geared towards children under 10, with other services and activities aimed at teenagers. Action for Children wants age-appropriate services available to children during the times they need them the most.

4. We want every child and young person to have access to two structured activities each week.

Investment in activities for young people has been concentrated in youth clubs, which are often unsupervised and unstructured. Research shows that structured activities such as Guides and Boys' Brigade reduce the likelihood of: drug and alcohol problems; aggression and anti-social behaviour; and becoming a teenage parent. They are also shown to improve mental health and emotional wellbeing.

5. We want local authorities to ensure that all children can access services and activities by addressing barriers such as lack of money or transport.

In particular, more needs to be done to remove barriers for disabled children. Lack of money and transport are the biggest barriers to children and young people accessing services and activities. This is particularly the case in rural areas and for disabled children.

6. We want services to direct parents to sources for help and support.

Children's centres are the ideal vehicle to help parents ensure their children's emotional wellbeing. It is important that children's centres focus on building emotional wellbeing; directing parents to additional support and advice where necessary.

7. We want schools to help children develop emotional wellbeing and support those who particularly need emotional support.

Recognising that children's emotional wellbeing is critical to their learning, some schools have set up buddy schemes and circle time and have trained staff to spot potential problems early. Action for Children wants this to be standard practice in all schools.

8. We want the government to set targets that are based on positive measures of emotional wellbeing - not just the reduction of harmful behaviour.

The government is committed to introducing targets but has yet to work these out or how they will be measured. Action for Children has devised outcome-based measures to assess the impact of our services and we are keen to share this information.

9. We want the media to portray children and young people in a positive way.

Thousands of children and young people make a real contribution to society but the media portrays them as anti-social, out of control and threatening. Such treatment adversely affects how most children and young people feel about their lives. We need to have a positive portrayal of what it means to be young today.

10. We want local authorities to develop their services for young children so that children can build resilience from an early age.

Many children's centres or Sure Start services are already doing excellent work around emotional wellbeing but this needs to be standard practice across all services for young children. We want to identify the best services that lead to positive outcomes and make sure it is shared and implemented far more widely.