The majority of Ukrainian children (83%) have said that they feel happy, according to the findings of a poll conducted with the support of UNICEF and the Foundation for the Development of Ukraine.
As the presidential press service reported, referring to the President’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights Yuriy Pavlenko, the majority of the polled children, who indicated their satisfaction with definite spheres of life (the material state of the family, housing conditions, clothes, food, health, attitude to them in the family and at educational establishment, ability to freely express their opinion and access to necessary information), noted that they feel happy.
Pavlenko also reported that children mostly trust their parents (97%) and also they trust their brothers and sisters, peers. Moreover, the children said they trusted famous sportsmen and artists. The level of their trust in the mass media is also rather high.
"In general, the study showed that today children have no idols. The main idols of children are their mother and father," the commissioner said.
He said a significant number of children during the poll said they had problems in communicating with their parents. In particular, 72% of children said that on a workday they communicate with the parents for no more than an hour.
"Only 28% of children communicate with their parents more than an hour on a workday and 45% – on weekends," he noted. Even on weekends, 55% of the children communicate with the parents for no more than an hour.
Concerning physical abuse in the family, the study showed that 10% of the Ukrainian families use physical force as a way to punish children.
"In 60% [of families] the parents scold children for a fault, in particular in a violent way. It could be seen as a psychological violation against the child," Pavlenko said, noting that the physical punishment of a child is prohibited by the present law.
"When you think how many is that 10%, then 800,000 children in Ukraine are suffering because of physical punishment, from beatings in the family," he added.
The president’s commissioner also said that today only one third of the children know how to report abuse.
"In the frames of the poll I received 1,491 questions from children, and these will be the basis of my further activity," Pavlenko said.
The results of the poll will be the basis for an annual report on the work of the president’s commissioner on children’s rights and will be used to create proposals for the government on stepping up work to maintain and protecting children’s rights in Ukraine.
The poll was conducted from April 15 to April 30, 2012 with the support of UNICEF and the Foundation for Development of Ukraine. Over 4,000 children from three age groups participated in the poll: from 10 to 13, from 14 to 15 and from 16 to 17 years old. Over 1,000 parents and over 500 experts in the healthcare and education sectors, was well as those involved in the protection of children’s rights, participated in the project.
