The Ombudsman for Children comments on the decision of Andrzej Duda. It is an important act
President Andrzej Duda informed that he had sent a law to the Constitutional Tribunal in preventive mode regarding the possibility of using the help of a psychologist by persons from 13 years of age without the consent of a parent or guardian. As he explained in a conversation with TV Republika, this decision results from concern for the safety of children.
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President Duda about psychological help for children from 13 years of age. He justified his decision
The president drew attention to the potential non -compliance of the Act with the constitutional rights of parents. In his opinion, the new recipes would enable 13-year-old children to choose a psychologist independently and participate in therapy without real control from guardians. He emphasized that the issue of parents' rights is an important element of family protection.
Duda noted that Children of this age do not yet have full ability to insist, which can expose them to the risk of contact with incompetent people. He drew attention to the lack of sufficient supervision over the profession of a psychologist in Poland and the need for greater guarantees that this is a profession of public trust, covered by adequate control.
Read also: The last message of the president. Andrzej Duda turned to Poles
The president estimated that the limitation of the parental possibility of intervention and the lack of influence on who and how the child affects the child's psyche may have significant consequences. He announced that he expected the Constitutional Tribunal to assess the provisions in terms of the relationship between the rights of the child and the parents' rights.
The Ombudsman for Children comments on the decision of President Andrzej Duda. “We accepted her sadly”
As she wrote in a commentary for Business Insider Polska, the Ombudsman for Children Monika Horna-Cieślak, the president's decision was accepted by her “with respect, but also with sadness“.
“WITHLife of teenagers, their safety is the highest value. His family is also the highest value for a young man. Such goals guided the Act on access to young people to a psychologist. This act was a step towards helping children at the most difficult moment of their lives, “she wrote.
As she emphasized, as a result of the crisis of mental health in Poland, more teenagers are leaving than the victims of road accidents. “In 2023, 145 such tragedies were recorded, including 138 among teenagers aged 13-18. These numbers are not only statistics – Real people, experiences, emotions, daily challenges are behind them” – calculated the Ombudsman for Children.
Monika Horna-Cieślak also mentioned the benefits of the Act blocked by the president. “This was guaranteed by the certainty that young people would only contact the top -class specialistswhich is clearly regulated by law, not charlatans. Legal regulations also assumed to inform the parent, including him in the process of providing assistancewhich is why we excluded treatment from the Act, remaining during consultation – so as not to violate the essence of parental rights in any way. The goal was to include parents in the child's affairs” – she noted.
As she added, The purpose of the Act was to allow a young person to take the first, most important step, i.e. ask for help. “Thanks to these solutions, thousands of teenagers could know that they did not have to remain in their suffering alone. It gave the opportunity to send the first, often very quiet signal that something disturbing was happening in his life,” she wrote.
“We still believe that care for the good of children connects, not divides. And the matters of young people are a priority“-summed up the decision of President Monika Horna-Cieślak.
