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Book part
Publication date: 2 June 2005

Angelo Saporiti, Ferran Casas, Daniela Grignoli, Antonio Mancini, Fabio Ferrucci, Marina Rago, Carles Alsinet, Cristina Figuer, Mònica González, Mireia Gusó, Carles Rostan and Marta Sadurní

In the beginning the Philosophers were the ones to school us on how to consider and treat our children. In Plato's Republic, Socrates sketched a place where the nursing and…

Abstract

In the beginning the Philosophers were the ones to school us on how to consider and treat our children. In Plato's Republic, Socrates sketched a place where the nursing and parenting of children is carried out communally (Platone, 1994, p. 172). Not much later, instead, Aristotle claimed that children belong to their own parents inasmuch as they beget them (Aristotele, 1999, pp. 345, 18–24). Much later, first Augustine, then Thomas, and later still Locke and Hobbes, Rousseau and Kant, all had a great deal to say on children and parents, as well as on children's status (Archard, 1993, Chap. 1; Blustein, 1982). The last great master who told us who children are and how they should be treated is perhaps John Stuart Mill: children are immature beings who cannot have the very same rights and liberties as adults (Mill, 1910, p. 73).

Details

Sociological Studies of Children and Youth
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76231-183-5

Book part
Publication date: 9 May 2022

Ankie Vandekerckhove

The Flemish Children’s Rights Commissioner of Belgium is among the first independent children’s rights institutions (ICRIs) to be established. The author shares her experiences as…

Abstract

The Flemish Children’s Rights Commissioner of Belgium is among the first independent children’s rights institutions (ICRIs) to be established. The author shares her experiences as the first Flemish ICRI. A student of Professor Eugeen Verhellen, who called for children’s rights and establishment of a children’s ombudsperson for Flanders, the author not only was in the right place at the right time for her academic studies, but also transformed Verhellen’s teachings into the Flemish ICRI as well as into the foundation of the European Network of Ombudsperson for Children. Over the 11 years the author served as the ombudsperson, the Flemish ICRI raised awareness of and bolstered children’s rights, as well as observed retrenchment in children’s rights and the role of the ICRI. It is clear that the Flemish ICRI’s successes not only continue to benefit Belgian young people, but children across the world.

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The Roles of Independent Children's Rights Institutions in Advancing Human Rights of Children
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-608-8

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 9 May 2022

Zsuzsanna Rutai

Independent children’s rights institutions as guardians of children’s rights contribute to the implementation and monitoring of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN…

Abstract

Independent children’s rights institutions as guardians of children’s rights contribute to the implementation and monitoring of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC) in several ways. This chapter focuses on their engagement with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC Committee) during the country-specific monitoring of the Convention: they can provide reliable, precise and up-to-date information about the situation of children’s rights in the field. While considering the state reports, the CRC Committee welcomes submission from any independent children’s rights institutions, but which institutions have taken this opportunity in the past? Based on the public database of reports submitted by national human rights institutions, without looking into the content of their submissions and the impact of their engagement, this chapter intends to draw the profile of the independent children’s rights institutions that actively engage with the monitoring body of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Book part
Publication date: 1 July 2004

Catherine J Ross

This article considers the independent liberty interests of children in foster care and their mothers in parental termination proceedings. Recent federal reforms impose a…

Abstract

This article considers the independent liberty interests of children in foster care and their mothers in parental termination proceedings. Recent federal reforms impose a mandatory deadline for the state to terminate parental rights. That policy erroneously presumes that the passage of time alone establishes parental fault and satisfies a parent’s due process rights. It also fails to protect the minority of children who assert an interest in preserving a safe relationship with mothers who are unlikely to meet the state’s schedule – including many substance abusers and victims of domestic violence.

Details

Studies in Law, Politics and Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76231-109-5

Book part
Publication date: 9 May 2022

Katrien Klep, Stephanie Rap and Valérie Pattyn

Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, states have the obligation to implement and monitor children’s rights. A key element thereof is the creation of independent…

Abstract

Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, states have the obligation to implement and monitor children’s rights. A key element thereof is the creation of independent national institutions for the promotion and protection of children rights (independent children’s rights institutions – ICRIs). All over the world a wide variety of such institutions can be found. In this chapter, the authors aim at providing a broader understanding of how to research ICRIs’ capacity to monitor and promote children’s rights. The authors use the case of the Dutch Children’s Ombudsman and an evaluation of this institute to draw out key elements of such research. This chapter shows the importance of studying the political process behind the establishment of an ICRI, and conceptualize and measure the autonomy of an ICRI in a comprehensive way. Moreover, the chapter sketches how an ICRI is part of a wider “children’s rights landscape” engaging with children’s rights actors at different levels. Multidisciplinary research is needed to grasp these elements and conduct a comprehensive assessment of an ICRI.

Details

The Roles of Independent Children's Rights Institutions in Advancing Human Rights of Children
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-608-8

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 9 May 2022

Robin Shura and Brian Gran

This chapter provides an overview of ways the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) has influenced the development, structure, and functions of independent…

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of ways the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) has influenced the development, structure, and functions of independent children’s rights organizations (ICRIs). Employing theoretical perspectives of New Institutionalism and World Society Approach and other concepts from institutional theories, this chapter explores explanations of isomorphic impacts of ENOC on ICRIs. This chapter examines how ENOC membership criteria have influenced ICRIs and their work, how ENOC’s influences on ICRIs may be tied to deterring decoupling from the symbolic promises nation states make when ratifying children’s rights instruments, and how agendas at ENOC annual meetings foster focused attention and work of ICRIs on specific substantive issues relevant to the promotion of children’s rights. That ENOC has served as a model organization of ICRIs suggests worldwide influences on the promotion of children’s rights.

Details

The Roles of Independent Children's Rights Institutions in Advancing Human Rights of Children
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-608-8

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Isobelle Barrett Meyering

This chapter offers a critical examination of children and young people’s participation in Australia’s official celebrations of the International Year of the Child (IYC) in 1979…

Abstract

This chapter offers a critical examination of children and young people’s participation in Australia’s official celebrations of the International Year of the Child (IYC) in 1979. While the global objectives of IYC strongly reflected ‘protectionist’ or ‘welfarist’ approaches to children’s rights, the chapter shows that, at a local level, the year was also shaped by alternative notions of children’s liberation that had emerged in the preceding decade and a new emphasis on children’s voices by policymakers, advocates and researchers. The chapter explores how these ideas were incorporated at a national level before closely examining three initiatives in New South Wales (NSW), the Australian state where the emphasis on children’s voices was taken furthest. The initiatives examined are: (1) the establishment of a Kids Council to provide input into the state’s response to IYC; (2) the organisation of a Youth Forum for high school students; and (3) the provision of funding for the ‘Speakout’ camp for children in out-of-home ‘care’. None of these initiatives approached the radical forms of democratic participation envisioned by liberationists. Nonetheless, they attest to the wider credence given to ideas of children’s self-determination in this period, well before the formalisation of children’s ‘participation’ rights in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989). The selected case studies also provide context to more recent debates over the inclusion of children and young people’s voices in decision-making processes, demonstrating how concerns around tokenism, exclusivity and adult-centricism manifested and were navigated at a time when the concepts of participation and voice remained relatively novel.

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Childhood, Youth and Activism: Demands for Rights and Justice from Young People and their Advocates
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-469-5

Keywords

Open Access
Book part
Publication date: 4 October 2023

Fiona Morrison

Drawing on key concepts from childhood studies, this chapter provides a theoretical grounding for children's participation rights in research on maltreatment. The chapter…

Abstract

Drawing on key concepts from childhood studies, this chapter provides a theoretical grounding for children's participation rights in research on maltreatment. The chapter discusses the sociology of childhood, tracing how it brought a focus to children's participation in research, and introduces the concepts of adultism and childism to help critique children's participation in research on maltreatment. The chapter is framed by a familiar debate on tensions between children's right to participate and their right to protection. It explores the relevance of these debates for research on child maltreatment. Through its discussion, the chapter explores key issues that have traditionally led to children being kept out of research on child maltreatment. It argues that children's participation is key to advancing knowledge on child maltreatment and fundamentally a way to uphold children's human rights. The concepts introduced in this chapter are threaded and explored throughout the subsequent chapters of the book, in their examination and reflections on children's participation in research on maltreatment.

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Participatory Research on Child Maltreatment with Children and Adult Survivors
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-529-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Roberto S. Salva

Using an ecological model of child participation and drawing on newsletter data from schools across the United States of America (USA), this chapter statistically explores five…

Abstract

Using an ecological model of child participation and drawing on newsletter data from schools across the United States of America (USA), this chapter statistically explores five state factors linked with school protests against gun violence: (1) children’s neighbourhood opportunity; (2) race/ethnicity; (3) voter preference for either a Republican or a Democratic president; (4) child participation policies; and (5) gun laws/violence/ownership. The chapter explores factors linked to both student participation in protests and student nonparticipation in protests that take place at their schools. Three factors were found to be associated with participation and nonparticipation: children’s neighbourhood opportunity, voters’ preference, and participation policies. Findings suggest that Democratic-voting states, mediated by education opportunity, predict the frequency of student protests against gun violence. In Republican-voting states, where education opportunity does not mediate the frequency of school protests, students still organised and participated in protests but to a lesser extent. In addition, states with high overall children’s neighbourhood opportunity and voting student education board members are highly likely to have non-protesting students in schools with protests. The chapter presents five conclusions from these results for the positive and negative exercise of child participation rights and considers what further multilevel explorations can be done to further test the framework employed for this analysis.

Details

Childhood, Youth and Activism: Demands for Rights and Justice from Young People and their Advocates
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-469-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 7 March 2022

Emma Nottingham

Recent years have seen growing concern about the climate crisis. Lack of adequate attention on this issue from governments and industries has prompted social movements against…

Abstract

Recent years have seen growing concern about the climate crisis. Lack of adequate attention on this issue from governments and industries has prompted social movements against climate change. Youth activism has been particularly effective at advancing the cause, especially campaign work by children, most notably Greta Thunberg. The tourism industry impacts global carbon emissions, particularly due to international travel. Sustainable tourism is therefore becoming increasingly important in order to help respond to the climate crisis and protect the individual rights of citizens, including children. Children have unique and important insights to offer, yet they are in a democratically weak position given that they cannot vote and are often wholly reliant on others to represent their interests. However, when we allow children to occupy legal and political spaces and support them with participatory democracy, such as through supporting the child's right to protest or supporting strategic litigation, significant progress can be made for climate justice and a more sustainable future. Adults have a responsibility to respond positively to the work of youth activists to help nurture and encourage the environmentally conscious attitudes of children into adulthood.

Details

Children in Sustainable and Responsible Tourism
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-657-6

Keywords

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