Tuesday 3 July 2012

Young Carers' Rap

Tricky P, rapping on being a young carer for his grandparents.  A terrific young artist giving voice to the experience of roughly 108,000 in Canada alone who are under 18 and provide care to a family member on a regular basis.

The Young Carers' Initiative is an organization here in Canada supporting kids looking after their parents or grandparents.  In the UK, Young Carers has this role.  In the United States, The American Association of Caregiving Youth does terrific work to support young people who take care of a relative needing help to get through the day.

Whether or not young people should be asked to care for their relatives who are infirm because of age or disability is an ethical and economic question.  I believe the answer to the ethical question of whether  our young people should have caring responsibilities is a relative one.  Relentless cutbacks to social care budgets leave some family members giving care in positions of powerlessness and isolation.  The downloading of ever more complex nursing duties to family means that some caregivers, including those under 18, are coerced into giving levels of care that make pursuing other interests (such as school) impossible.  Giving some care on a regular basis can be a powerful ingredient in developing responsible maturity, but like any good thing, too much can be toxic and life-limiting.

Bravo to these organizations supporting young carers and helping them achieve balance in their lives.

3 comments:

ElderCareExpert said...

Thank you Donna for sharing our video. All caregivers deserve recognition and support and these young people certainly do as well. The more views- the less invisible they are-Thanks for seeing them!
-Audrey Miller, The CareGiverProject

The Caregivers' Living Room said...

Hi Audrey,
I am honoured that you wrote to thank me for sharing your video. I found it on Facebook - it was shared by someone in the care field who is keeping an eye out for these wonderful links! I just looked carefully at your website and I am thrilled to have found you. The work of the CareGiver Project is necessary and inspirational. We are all on the same path, I'm happy we found each other.

Kim said...

I wanted to respond to this portion of your blog "Giving some care on a regular basis can be a powerful ingredient in developing responsible maturity, but like any good thing, too much can be toxic and life-limiting."

This is the very reason the young carers movement in Canada is so important. Children who provide care need support, training and opportunities to 'just be kids'. There are currently five young carers projects in Canada who strive to provide young carers with support from staff and peers in similar situations, life skills coaching to help children increase their confidence and safety in their roles and mostly a chance to let loose and have fun. In addition we strive to provide support to people wishing to start up new projects within Canada serving young carers.

Thank you so much for sharing your blog and this young man's talent. The Canadian young carers movement is off to a great start!