Towards a Culture of Child Participation

European Seminar

31 January 2008

"Towards a culture of child participation"

Summary and conclusions by Benoît Parmentier, Chairperson of the ChildONEurope network.

During the introduction of the Seminar, Valerio Belutti, who moderated the first session, stated that, among the three Ps (protection, provision and participation) characterizing children’s rights, the most difficult one to implement is probably participation. In this regard, I would like to share with you an excerpt of the speech given by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Thomas Hammarberg, at a conference held in Warsaw on 20 November 2007:

“The objective should be to create a culture of greater receptivity to and respect for children’s views. Unfortunately many adults seem to consider this prospect a threat. The issue of children’s influence is seen as a ‘zero-sum game’ – that is, a situation in which one side wins only if the other side loses. In other words, if children get more power, adults believe they will lose some of theirs and be less able to control the family, or uphold discipline in the classroom.”

The girls of the Cyprus Children’s Parliament stressed once again this point when they clearly stated that adults were not ready to play the game of participation.

So, is there a way to make child participation no longer a zero-sum game, but a cooperation game in which both children and adults end up being winners?

The following are the observations and suggestions made within the different working groups.

As regardsfamily, it was underlined how important it is to "do together". This clearly does not mean that children and parents should have the same role, but that they should have common interests. For instance, it is important for parents to take interest in how their children are doing at school and even to get involved in study and in school activities. The same goes for the participation of minors in an association: their parents should monitor them and get involved in its activities as well.

Unfortunately, this shared vision is not always put into practice. There is all too often little communication between parents and their children. The parents do not dedicate enough time to their children and they have difficulties in reconciling family life with their professional careers. Some parents give money to their children hoping to make up for their lack of time, but this is not the solution. The working group no. 1 also highlighted the issue of unequal access to services, in particular for children living in rural areas, migrant children and minors living in reconstituted or single-parent families. Poverty also represents a handicap, even if, of course, families that do not have economic difficulties may also have some problems in guaranteeing child participation, as in the examples above.

What are the opportunities to be seized and the attitudes to be promoted? Develop the ability to negotiate, respect all the family members, take some time to stay with the rest of the family, strike a balance between the rights and duties of each member, keeping in mind that participating does not mean that roles should be confused. Each parent, each child must obviously preserve their own identity, responsibilities and specificity within the family.

As regards school, the working group no. 2 discussed several experiences which achieved positive results and others which were not assuccessful. It is not possible to describe them all in this summary, but the participants underlined that if a group of students has managed to promote and implement participation, that may easily come to an end when that class reaches the end of studies. Therefore, it is very difficult to ensure participation in the long term.The members of the working group also highlighted that disadvantaged or disabled children have more difficulties in participating in school life. Another interesting observation is that the various schools adopt several different approaches which are often not very uniform.

Two main strategies for the promotion of child participation at school can be identified. The two approaches are however not incompatible. The first strategy consists in promoting participation by giving children the means to "defend" themselves. This could be defined as the "child advocacy" strategy. The second approach is based on the involvement of the authorities, including the political institutions, through the creation of a legal framework and of the instruments necessary to promote participation.

However, this twofold strategy is confronted with a school system that focuses mainly on learning and on exams. It is in this sector that the lack of participation may be the most glaring. Children and teachers are not prepared yet. That is why the working group concluded that training is essential to overcome such difficulties.

The third working group collected only few initiatives concerning child participation in community life and focused primarily on difficulties. However, some notable examples do exist, such as the Cyprus Children’s Parliament and the Charter for Children in Hospital.One of the main difficulties which were debated by the working group is how to identify the most effective and stimulating methods. The exclusion of migrant or disabled children was mentioned once again as a serious issue, together with the difficulty for adults to spend time with minors. Adults seem to be afraid of losing power or of children getting more power. The group also suggested that the image of the young should no longer be so much influenced by the media. Furthermore, if the adults are willing to listen to children, they are often being too selective in doing so, as they tend to pick up only what is of interest to them.

In fact, the working group no. 3 placed the respect for children’s rights in a truly cultural dimension. Moreover, the group underlined the need to plan participation in the long term and to involve minors in planning. It is important to inform and to train children, just as it is essential to educate adults. It is necessary to involve the institutions, including the local authorities, and to consider children and adolescents as partners in order to really change things.The group then concluded that it is urgent to promote a shared culture of child participation,no longer isolated in space and time.

Considering the 4 experiences which were presented in the morning and the results of the afternoon meetings of the working groups, the following is the summary of the main points raised during the Seminar:

• Child participation is a key issue for democracy: it is the expression itself of democratic values which represent the foundations of our societies.
• Besides these long-term benefits, child participation can also have immediate benefits for the various parties: for the children themselves, who acquire new skills and increased self-confidence through empowerment, but also for the adults, who benefit from receivingmore and better information and from the involvement of the individuals affected by their decisions.
• Implementing child participation is not an easy task, as it entails some specific difficulties which need to be faced.It is a process, more than a one-off operation, and it is necessary to identify the factors which favour better results, based in particular on the experience acquired through different initiatives.

What are these favourable factors?

- First of all, everyone agrees that informing children of their rights (since their early age) and training professionals and adults in this field are fundamental steps.

- Another key factor is the openness and commitment of the institutions. The children need to be convinced that their opinions are being valued and that they are always being listened by adults. When the opinion of a child is not taken into consideration, it is necessary to give a feedback on the reasons for doing so.

- Child participation is an issue of cultural attitude. It is a matter of trusting the child’s skills. The project "StarebeneStaremale" clearly showed it. In fact, the key issue is respect, i.e. to promote a culture of mutual respect between children and adults.

- Child participation cannot be implemented without the financial and human resources needed to organize it and promote it, but it also requiresthe availability of physical resources, such as in terms of space.

- Finally, child participation must be conceived in the framework of an interdisciplinary, cross-sector approach. The child is not only a schoolboy, a son, a sportsman, but a whole, a fully-fledged individual. Child participation should thus be understood in all its facets.

• Specific attention should be paid to the participation of children who are more likely to be marginalized or excluded due to their social status (poor, disabled children, minors living in institutions or belonging to minorities, refugees, etc.). In other words, participation should be“all inclusive”.
• Child participation becomes more effective when it takes place in a playful, light and funny environment reminding everybody – children and adults – that serious things are not necessarily grave. In this framework, it is essential to underline the importance of innovative initiatives which allow children and adolescents to express themselves according to their preferences and needs.

Inconclusion, I would like to go back to an observation made by Susan Bissell, from the UNICEF Research Centre, in her speech. Initiatives on participation are only rarely evaluated and there are few studies on the impact of the measures taken.

I would like to add that there are even fewer surveys that include children and that take their point of view and experience into consideration. An educator in the working group no. 3 correctly pointed out that it is necessary to ask children why and on what they would like to be involved. Interestingly, the two girls from Cyprus also stated: "We are not the leaders of tomorrow, but the partners of today".

Finally, the issue of child participation could represent a concrete topic of work for the ChildONEurope network. For instance, the group of experts could identify the existing evaluation systems and draft a set of guidelines in the field. In order to do so, the working group should involve children and adolescents in the evaluation process and collect their opinions on the opportunities of participation they are given in the various settings.

Thank you.