Beyond the familiar challenges for children and young people’s participation rights: the potential of activism

Abstract

Over the last 30 years, remarkable efforts have been made to understand and support children and young people's participation rights outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Despite these efforts, challenges remain consistently the same, such as tokenism, lack of sustainability, and accountability. This article reviews the progress and challenges for children and young people's participation. It then considers the potential of activism as a relatively novel concept for the children's rights field. Drawing on activism literature more generally, and considering examples of child activism, the article explores the potential of identity politics and social movements to challenge adult power, growing on-line activism and tensions between best interests, protection and participation. The article concludes that activism recognises children as political actors and problem solvers. The article develops the idea of an 'ecology of participation', which values respectful intergenerational relationships that develop 'critical social capital' for child activism and multiple participation forms -ranging from the more conventional, to protest, to transformation. This more extended conceptualisation of children and young people's participation builds on all the participation rights within the UNCRC, recognising them as minimum standards rather than final destinations, to create more expansive understandings and practices.

Special education documents and young children's right to be heard

“…While it is impossible for anyone to fully understand another person's perspective, one can assume, based on utterances, expressions and behaviour. Hearing a child is an active process involving listening, interpreting and constructing meaning in dialogue and a context of mutual respect both in daily routines and decision‐making processes (Clark, 2005; Tisdall & Cuevas‐Parra, 2021).…”

“…Countries with special education provisions commonly use documents as part of decisions and planning for education, placement, resource allocation, as well as accountability and evaluation (Boyd et al, 2015; Hunter et al, 2020; Mitchell et al, 2010). Despite international agreement on a child's right to be heard, it has proved challenging to implement, and certain groups of children risk exclusion (Tisdall & Cuevas‐Parra, 2021), particularly disabled children and children with special needs (de Leeuw et al, 2020; Franklin & Sloper, 2009; Veck, 2009). An absence of disabled children can be related to ableist assumptions that devalue their contributions and participation (Eilers, 2023).…”

Children's participation in international fora: The experiences and perspectives of children and adults

“…For centuries, children and young people have engaged in multiple activities in society, from supporting the family economy to attending school or engaging in entertainment activities. Still, their roles have been often subordinated to adults' power, and their participation in decision‐making has been restricted by cultural and social contexts (Corsaro, 2011; Cuevas‐Parra, 2022; Tisdall & Cuevas‐Parra, 2021). In 1989, the UNCRC explicitly established a set of participatory rights for children and elevated these rights to the position of a central principle (Verhellen, 2015).…”

Questioning children's activism: What is new or old in theory and practice?

“…Children's activism has been described as a form of participation (Tisdall & Cuevas‐Parra, 2019), and the activism label is being used by an expanding array of children and young people, child‐focused organizations and other media and political institutions (Tisdall & Cuevas‐Parra, 2021). Is activism a new form of children's participation, an old one with a different name or just gaining visibility?…”