Family planning campaign gets under way
Advertisements promoting family planning, and reminding would-be parents of the burden of responsibility entailed in child-rearing, have begun broadcasting courtesy of the Coalition for the Protection of Children.
Based on “the reality of life in Bermuda”, the campaign draws attention to the financial cost and nurturing time required in parenthood.
Sheelagh Cooper, founder of the social aid group, said: “What I have noticed is there has been a real reluctance in our community to talking about the idea of planning one’s family.
“There are certainly some historical reasons for that. However, this is not about birth control; what this is about is planning.”
The first of the advertisements ran during ZBM’s news broadcast last night.
Ms Cooper added: “We recognise that there will be some resistance to this. But in preparation for this campaign we have held several focus groups with the women who serve at the Coalition.
“It was with their direction and with their blessing that we structured the commercial in the way that we did. That’s why it begins with the words ‘At the Coalition, we believe that children are a gift’ — because that’s the overwhelming perception, and one that we support. Of course that means that one would want to protect and nurture that gift.”
Asked if the ads were directed at families who were struggling financially, Ms Cooper responded with a decisive “no”.
“This is a message to everyone in the community, not to any one single group. It’s telling everyone that it makes sense to plan.”
Nevertheless the ads contain pointed messages on the costs involved, including:
• $1,500 a year for diapers;
• $1,500 a year for baby food;
• $1,500 a year for baby formula;
• School uniforms can cost $1,000 a year;
• Day care can run $9,000 to $10,000 a year.
“I think that we have to have the discussion,” Ms Cooper said.
The ads are to continue running on ZBM during Monday and Wednesday evenings, and are planned for radio as well.
“Our reason for beginning this family planning campaign is based on the reality of life in Bermuda, including the expense of raising a child, and the recognition that children are genuinely, truly a gift,” Ms Cooper said. “We all want to give them the most that we possible can. The reality is, as the ad says, that it’s expensive. There is not only the financial cost but the time required to really nurture every one of these precious little people is an important factor.
“It’s about being aware of the demands that having children places upon one, and also the need for both parents to be involved in the raising of children.”
The Coalition, which keeps a close relationship with women’s groups, has “for several years” assisted clients in financial need with covering the cost of family planning, she said.
Birth control had a rocky history in Bermuda, as recent parliamentary debates on immigration policy have touched upon.
During the 1950s, the promotion of contraception by the Department of Health was widely perceived as targeting black Bermudian families, even as white expatriate groups were welcomed to the Island.
That policy was recalled by civil rights activist Eva Hodgson.
“How it was done, I can’t say,” Dr Hodgson said.
“I do know that the reason most people accepted for it was that they were trying to reduce the black population. This country has always had problems with trying to get more white Bermudians than blacks.”
An impending requirement for single parents on Financial Assistance to show that they have tried to seek child support via court has come up for criticism from the Coalition for the Protection of Children.
“It’s not the best way to proceed, in my opinion — although in some cases it may admittedly be the only way,” Coalition founder Sheelagh Cooper said.
“A move like that is detrimental to both parties and the children. I have seem multiple cases where, because a woman went to Financial Assistance and was forced to take the father of her children to court, the relationship deteriorated unnecessarily — and it still did not result in any adequate form of support. This type of approach is inflammatory and can be very damaging to relationships.
“Our preferred alternative is to have the parties come to the Centre for Community and Family Mediation, which is a subsidiary of the Coalition.
“We have trained family mediators available at no cost to address the multiple issues that the parents face in connection with child support, access and visitation.”
Ms Cooper said payment orders obtained through the courts had a low rate of compliance, while mediation had resolved issues in “60 to 70 per cent of cases”, and said a wiser requirement would be for Financial Assistance to require mediation as a first approach.
“There’s no question that there are circumstances that will require the court’s involvement, when an individual is clearly capable of paying and refuses to do so. But the first attempt at redress should be through mediation.” The service can be accessed through the website www.mediate.bm.
