Paper Example on Children's Rights

Introduction

The representation of children's view as social persons has gained general acceptance and been encoded in the United Nation's convention of children's rights. However, it remains controversial to date because it touches on the issue of citizenship. In many ways, children have been thought to behave and fit into the adult way of thinking and participating when decision-making is needed. The voicing for the children rights is high while actions for the same is very low. Another issue is the fact that not all children and young people are ready to participate and the push for them to participate may result in new power divisions between children and children and children and adults. This further points to the reciprocal relationship between the representation of children and political representation both culturally and socially.

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Another research of kinship funded by the JRF found out that despite the little attention given to young people in the policy and practice, it appears to be options valued by young people. From the research, most of the young people seemed to like the fact that they live with their extended family and love it when they know they belong to someone (Hart, 2009). A further study done by the economic and social science research showed that children and young people find it beneficial to engage in social activities and other programs that saw the children be involved as social actors. However, it is also evident that parental involvement is very important in the development and child's education because it is associated with long-term outcomes. This research indicated that while children are the main initiators of parental involvement, they are also uncertain on balance between home and school.

The number of young people in political participation is exceptionally low, and in the 2001 General elections in the UK, figures reported were low for the youth voters with 4 in ten turning out to vote. This has raised questions among the relevant bodies as to whether the voting age should be lowed further to accommodate more youth participating in the process (Parton, 2009). Reducing the number of years of voters does not make young people participate in politics or voting, because the problem is not in the age rather in participation and inclusivity. Young people should be first sensitized to the importance of participating and making their voice heard through the ballot. They must also be involved in policy making to make their voices be heard. One initiative that has worked well is the involvement of the youth in policy making and decision making. This has made the youth and young people to say what they think about the services they are given, and how it can be improved to best suit them. An example is an initiative that meant to involve young people in decision making by employing them in different regions to monitor their responsibility and engagement. Children are powerful, and in most cases, if they want to make their voice heard through violent means, it creates a big impact (Mizen, 1999). An example is a group of children who went on a strike in support of their sacked teachers; the strike turned out to last for 25 years. It turned out later that the sacked teachers and children were protesting against child labor, which as it turns now has been a major concern to children themselves.

During the international conference for child labor, many children were invited to raise the number of child's voice in the conference. Major lessons that were learnt from this conference were that there is need to solve the conflicts between the young people and adults, which arise as a result of differences in perspective and ideas (Hill, 2004). It was also evident that there were differences in both thinking and preferences between the young people themselves. All these differences can be ironed out through creating common forums that engage both children and adults in order to reach a common ground.

The new ways in place to involve patients in health policy matters have not made any provision for children and their views on the same. It would have been important if the voices of children were heard in health arenas to improve their participation and create sound health practices. It is believed that children can make sound health decisions that are positive but are only hindered by poor communication techniques such as language barriers and poor access to reading and writing skills. It was therefore found that one of the major issues that need to be addressed is the setting up of structures that can enable young people to air their views freely with the use of a common language best understood by both parties. The health matters are very sensitive for both adults and children. However, children ought to be involved as equal stakeholders to not only share ideas but also give ways through which it works best for them.

Conclusion

In working with children, it is prudent to know how possible it is to work with children as purely independent actors. The problem with this idea is that children cannot be seen as independent actors because of different laws in different cultures that dictate the autonomous status of children. However, there are recent ideas about the child being a semi-independent actor with the protection of social and political rights, enabling working with children. The major hindrance towards this law is other competing legal rights that need clarification on the issue (Hvidsten, 2012). This makes the process of child rights complicated because it lacks clarity because there exist contradictions in the existing laws. A clear study on the rights perceived for children shows that they are more of hindering their participation...