Choose Kind on National Children’s Day UK – 15th May

This year the National Children’s Day UK is to be celebrated on Sunday 15th May and the theme this year is ‘Choose Kind’. NCDUK is all about the importance of a healthy childhood and how the rights and freedoms of children and young people need to be protected.

National Children’s Day UK is an initiative of the Save Childhood Movement established in 2013 and is part of a growing group of individuals and organisations that share a deep concern about societal values and wellbeing. The concept of Children's Day was established by the UN General Assembly in 1954 as a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children. The Assembly suggested to governments that the day be observed on the date and in the way which each considers appropriate. In the UK it was launched by the Save Childhood Movement in 2014 and is now held at the beginning of summer. 

In June 2018, the DfE published analysis of data from the second Longitudinal Study of Young People in England and the statistics show that bullying is still an issue for a large number of young people. Some of the findings are below:

• There was a correlation between lower GCSE results and reported experience of bullying, with bullied young people on average achieving two grades less in one GCSE qualification than their non-bullied peers. 
• There was a significant gender disparity, with 35% of female students reporting being bullied, whereas the figure for males was lower, at 26%. 
• A higher proportion (36%) of young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reported being bullied. The rate was 29% among their peers.

The NCHUK aims to develop more kindness across the UK to ensure more young people have happy and healthy childhoods.