IT is a sad indictment on Launceston that our children suffer higher rates of assault, are more likely to be the subject of a child protection order and have lower communication and cognitive skills than other Tasmanian kids.
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According to a report released by the Launceston Child Friendly Working Group, the city's children were also less likely to be physically ready for school, performed lower in social competence and were more likely to be hospitalised due to injury.
That the rate of assaults on children was 50 per cent higher in Launceston than for the rest of Northern Tasmania is shocking. For every 100 children, 7.75 per cent have had child protection notifications made about them.
When 20 to 30 per cent of children are considered vulnerable or at risk, it is little wonder that one in five are not turning up to school ready to learn.
However, focusing on the disturbing statistics risks turning vulnerable children into numbers in a report.
Children who turn up to school without eating breakfast. Children who see violence in their homes. Children who see generational unemployment as normal.
The State of Launceston's Children report should be a wake-up call that more needs to be done to stop children falling through the cracks.
A "springboard into activity", as Anglicare children, families and community services state manager Paul Mallett hopes.
Clearly better education for parents around these issues would help some of the problems.
But changing these figures and the lives of Launceston's children will be no easy task. It is a job not just for teachers or councils or governments or service groups, but for the entire community.
One of the positives in the report - the percentage of volunteers - could in fact lead to better outcomes for our children.
If the old cliche of it taking a village to raise a child is true, then perhaps more people willing to lend a hand could be the key.