CYC-Online - e-journal of the International Child and Youth Care Network
Omschrijving
Editorial Comment
Difficult Kids?
Martin Stabrey
Walk into any residential program, or school, or talk with family members, and the conversation at some point will veer towards how the complexity of children’s behaviour has skyrocketed, how they’ve become more ‘difficult’. And to be fair, on the surface the observations might seem fair. But have children really become more ‘difficult’ than they were in previous generations? Today’s CYC practitioners navigate a landscape consumed by the relentless pressure of digital environments, economic anxiety, and everincreasing mental health challenges. What’s undeniable is that the context of caring for children (whether at home or in care) has become exponentially harder to sustain. This is then lazily passed off as children having become more difficult than they previously were.
Twenty years ago, CYC practice was heavily steeped in behaviour management. Today, CYC practice rightfully demands trauma-informed, relational practice. The work is no longer about compliance; it seeks connection, emotional co-regulation, to practice relationally. This shift has been necessary, but it also requires more emotional labour from practitioners, and parents. Establishing relational safety demands time, consistency, and a sustained presence — resources that are increasingly restricted by administrative red tape, stringent risk assessments, and unpredictable care placements.
And inevitably it’s the children who carry the weight of stressed support structures. With more families pushed to the brink, the youth who enter care are understandably defensive and reluctant to form new relationships for fear of being hurt all over again. They are simply responding to the instability and adversity of their environmental experiences. And all this while CYC professionals face increased funding challenges, overwhelming duty rosters, and emotional exhaustion. We are attempting to provide relational safety within systems that are themselves structurally under ever-increasing strain.
We must resist the popular narrative that today's youth are inherently more defiant, resistant, ‘difficult’. Their needs haven’t changed. We’re not suddenly dealing with a ‘harder’ generation of kids. They still want to belong, be trusted, and be socially connected. The challenge now is fighting for the structural resources and systemic stability required to actually practice the relational care that children deserve.
Contents:
Editorial Comment: Difficult Kids? | Martin Stabrey
Growing Our Young in Cultures of Respect | Martin Brokenleg
A Lot of Framing for Not Much Content | Kiaras Gharabaghi
The Ripple Effect | Agustin Castante III
Attention, Please: Why Children Need Parents Who Look Up | Sarah M. Coyne
Story Series #6: The Leaving | Caroline Moore
The Man Who Planted Acorns | Jean Giono
The Freedom to do What We Love | Hans Skott-Myhre
Bron: https://cyc-net.org/
