Did you know that Singapore Children’s Society is also backed by research and advocacy work, with a focus to protect and promote the well-being of children, youth and their families and to also enhance the usefulness of social services to children and youth.
The Research and Advocacy Department in Singapore Children’s Society play different but very important roles in ensuring the fulfilment of children’s rights, especially for them to be free from violence and harm and for their voices to be heard on issues that concern them.
According to Dr Charlene Fu, Head of the Research Unit and Ms Lin Xiaoling, Head of the Advocacy Unit, the work of both units is a multifaceted one and comprises various initiatives.
“For example, in our advocacy work, the KidzLive: I Can Protect Myself, is a body safety programme for the prevention of child sexual abuse. While the programme goes out directly to preschoolers, we also train preschool educators and empower parents."
Ms Geraldine Tan, an Advocacy Unit staff delivering body safety lessons to the preschoolers
"The programme has seen much growth over time. It has paved the way to empower adults in our society to talk about the sensitive topic of sexual abuse prevention to young children and show adults that it is an important life skill to teach. While our efforts have taken more than a decade to bear fruits, and body safety education is still not universal in preschools, I take heart that it is now more likely than before for our young ones to be given a chance to learn about this important topic in their formative years."
She added that the programme, which was initially targeted at children, has now been extended to include adult caregivers and educators, with some preschool operators even integrating body safety education into their curriculum.
Apart from the KidzLive: I Can Protect Myself, the Unit also aims to influence the mindsets of the public through media commentaries and resources such as the picture book Jun and the Octopus and infographics.
Staff members posing with the Jun and the Octopus book at its book launch
In the ParenTIPS initiative, the Advocacy Unit shares relevant information and topical tips with parents through social media posts and podcasts. The Singapore Children’s Forum is another platform to engage youths and seek their views and opinions on issues concerning them, and to allow their voices to be heard.
“Internally, the team works towards building the knowledge of our fellow colleagues through the ForUM (For U & Me) sessions. Every year, we organise three to four sessions to allow our sister centres to share their expertise with the rest of the organisation, or bring in invited speakers to shed light on emerging areas that we are not quite familiar with."
Singapore Children’s Society ForUM session on mental health
The digital world has also changed the way things are done. According to the Advocacy Unit, it is easier to reach their target audience now. However, with information overload nowadays, it also poses as a challenge to cut through all the noise to send the right messages to the audience.
Ms Lin (left) and her colleagues at their team retreat near Labrador Park
On the other hand, the Research Unit plays a very different role compared to the Advocacy Unit. The Research Unit’s primary function is to conduct research studies on a range of topics. Some recent topics include understanding the experiences of stepfamilies and examining what contributes to the resilience among youths from low-income families. It also looks at children’s mental health. For example, the Research Unit conducted a study into what children were telling Tinkle Friend about their mental health. Following this, the Research Unit will look into understanding parents’ and children’s perspectives on seeking mental health support.
Dr Fu (top left), head of Research Unit with her colleagues at Johor Bahru for a staff retreat
According to Dr Fu, the Research Unit also supports the service centres of Children’s Society in programmes or service development and evaluation. The goal is to help colleagues design programmes and services that meet people’s needs, as well ensure they are delivered effectively and efficiently. The findings of the Research Unit’s studies also provide important insights for the programmes and services.
Dr Fu presenting our findings on Children’s Mental Health at the Singapore Mental Health Conference in 2023
“The most memorable experience for me has been the whole process of disseminating the findings of our study regarding parent’s use of physical discipline. We started preparations for this study in late 2020, collected data in 2021 and started disseminating the findings of the study in 2022. What struck me was how widely the study was shared. Apart from sharing at research conferences and academic platforms, we held a press conference to disseminate the findings to the public. Our findings were shared via all the major local news outlets. The study has further contributed to our organisation’s stance on physical punishment and demonstrated to me our organisation’s commitment to being informed through evidence. It is one my proudest achievements as a researcher to have been part of the team that contributed to such a meaningful study."
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