In recent news there’s been a lot of use of the word myths being handed around, both in print and on the internet. Figures released suggest that there are thousands of shortages of foster carers in the UK, and many celebrities and public figures have stepped forwards to support foster care and the positive effect it can have on the lives of young people, both at the time of care and in later life. Richard Farleigh, the entrepreneur famous for his involvement in Dragons’ Den, described foster care as “society’s band-aid.”
There seems to be a conflict of what people are talking about in these situations. On the one hand we have a lot of media attention, but then that attention is caused by a huge lack in people available to foster children.
The myths that surround foster care are often about who is eligible to be a foster carer.
Common misconceptions are the single people, men, same sex couples, unemployed people and people who don’t own property can’t be foster carers, which is completely untrue. The question is, however, can this media attention actually work towards dispelling those myths, or will it further alienate people from an industry that really needs them?
Focusing on the positive
One of the strongest ways to overcome this lack of knowledge has to be talking about whom can do it and making sure the positive cases of foster care make the news. By simply having more content out there on the world of foster caring- not just who can be a carer but all the other aspects involved with it.
There is little bad effect that can come from raising awareness of what is a good thing, but the articles may have little effect if we consider that the people who read these articles in paper like The Independent and The Guardian are probably already aware that most people can do it, the news just needs to reach the people who don’t necessarily read these articles, yet are still eligible to apply.
Social sharing
One really effective way to reach people who may not read those newspapers is to approach people via social media such as Facebook and Twitter. For this reason, you should consider sharing this article in the hope that a few extra people will see something they didn’t already know, and hopefully then consider being a foster carer in the future.
Although this is a highly speculative method of getting people informed, it’s one of the only ways to let people know about foster caring without them actively seeking the information themselves.
If you or someone you know would like more information about fostering or who is eligible to be a carer, visit www.capstonefostercare.co.uk
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