Children's Rights
Maltastar (17-07-2009)
Over the weekend I was invited to participate in a live-in organised by the Commissioner for Children.
The activity targeted youths between thirteen and fifteen years old, and aimed to promote the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The chosen theme was ‘Giving young people a voice’.
I admit that I was really impressed by the presentations and comments made by these youths. They were also involved in role playing to enable them to fully understand difficult situations which may easily arise in a family ambit and elsewhere. A recurring comment was that children and young people want to be fully involved in matters concerning their lives both on a day to day basis and also long term.
They queried why adults treat them as if they knew nothing. One young lady said ‘we are not stupid you know! We have opinions too.’ I was even amazed when a couple of the participants said that they did not even know that children had rights and there was a convention dealing with the rights of the child.
In this day and age, when the younger generation is the most vulnerable and most prone to social exclusion, giving them a stronger voice is essential. We cannot target children’s problems unless we are willing to hear them. Both within the family unit and also at school and at any other social level, children are suffering all the time because decisions about them are taken without even considering their point of view or even consulting them.
Children need to know more about their rights and this should be included in the academic curriculum. On the other hand, adults especially parents, have to change their attitude towards their children no matter how young and try to listen to them. Children do have a right to be involved in decision making especially within the family.
There is too much pain and suffering among our children for different reasons so at least we must give them the opportunity to speak up. I strongly encourage further Rights4U courses like the one which was organised last weekend, children and young people do have a voice but we must create opportunities for them to be heard.
In this day and age, when the younger generation is the most vulnerable and most prone to social exclusion, giving them a stronger voice is essential. We cannot target children’s problems unless we are willing to hear them. Both within the family unit and also at school and at any other social level, children are suffering all the time because decisions about them are taken without even considering their point of view or even consulting them.
Children need to know more about their rights and this should be included in the academic curriculum. On the other hand, adults especially parents, have to change their attitude towards their children no matter how young and try to listen to them. Children do have a right to be involved in decision making especially within the family.
There is too much pain and suffering among our children for different reasons so at least we must give them the opportunity to speak up. I strongly encourage further Rights4U courses like the one which was organised last weekend, children and young people do have a voice but we must create opportunities for them to be heard.
© 2009 - Justyne Caruana
