23Red Regions director concerns over family messaging change
Stephanie Drakes, regional director at 23red Regions highlights the effects that the changes being made to Government will have on agency operations and campaign messaging strategies, especially those aimed at families and children, that she believes will need to be adopted.
New administrations bring new approaches, yet in the case of how to raise our children, the new Coalition is turning to the old way of doing things.
Gone is the Department for Culture, Schools & Families, the colourful rainbow and toy trains signage replaced overnight with the more business-like Department for Education branding. Gone, too, it seems, is the idea that responsibility for raising our children rests with the State.
So where does this Government stand on the issue of raising children? And what does this mean for Government-led campaigns targeting families?
Certainly, the Coalition inherited a dysfunctional family situation: the worst youth unemployment levels of a generation. An obesity timebomb. Teachers showing children how to use a knife and fork.
The Coalition’s commitment to building and supporting families is well publicised: “To make Britain the most family-friendly country in Europe”. Tabloid journalists have playfully suggested politicians follow their leader by ‘hugging hoodies’ but looking at the manifesto reveals a more at-arms-length approach.
Giving children and their parents more say in how their schools are run is core foundation of The Coalitions education policy. The centralised approach a generation has grown use to will be replaced by a more collaborative way of working where pupils will not only have a voice but ways contributing to the governance of their schools. Children though expecting to be given loose reign are in for a shock: teachers will be backed with rule changes that help them administer class discipline more vigorously, and community neighbours are to be encouraged to play a more active public parenting role. If that isn’t enough the Government will trial a National Citizen Service with 16 year olds where they will be trained about what it takes to become a responsible adult.
Outside school the Government focus is on supporting the family unit and the parenting role. Does the Coalition have all the answers? Not yet - talk of ‘finding a new way to support families with multiple problems’ hints at having some way to go. But one thing is clear: the responsibility is not Government’s.
Whereas the children will – as children do – adapt to this new/old approach to being raised, their parents will struggle. This is the generation that grew up under Labour, the ‘Nanny State’, that assumes school will keep their kids active, the police will tell them when to go home, GPs will tell them not to drink. Yet it is, undeniably, the parent that has the most influence over their children. They define the boundaries, pass on skills and attitudes and are irreplaceable role models – good or bad.
At 23red we experience daily the challenge of actually engaging this audience through campaigns like Change4Life. How campaigns are delivered will change. The emphasis will shift from campaign messaging to more collaborative approaches working together with the people who know these parents: key workers, youth leaders, charities. Agencies engaged in Government campaigns will have to get into the community, and get to know the community. In doing this we will need to be more versatile and make better use of existing resources. The Governments view is that we are all part of The BIG Society, which means they expect us to step up, step out and make a contribution too.