The
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most important document
for anyone under 18 across the world, unless you live in Somalia or
the USA because these are the only two countries not to have ratified
this international treaty for the protection, provision and participation
of children and young people. The UK Government signed up in December
1991. The Convention defines children as those under 18 and many of
the provisions of the Convention have continuing relevance for young
people aged 18-25. So, the Convention is a crucial framework for all
groups working to promote the social inclusion and advancement of
children and young people, especially those most on the edge.
Many
youth and community workers that Frontier Youth Trust comes into contact
with are promoting good practice and enabling youth workers to respond
to government policies that promote the participation of young people
(e.g. Transforming Youthwork). Many of them work in church contexts
and they are trying to take seriously the responsibility to see the
Convention applied to the church (local and national) as much as other
social contexts. FYT believes that it is important that we listen
to children and young people and respond to their views and concerns.
A recent National Youth Agency report outlined what children and young
people think about key aspects of the Convention to the UN Committee.
They wrote their own reports, presented their case to the Chair of
the Committee and went in person to Geneva to submit their evidence
as part of the formal delegation to the Committee. They identified
five key areas where their rights under the Convention are not being
met.
1)
I am what I am
• Young people's experience of race, age, sex and disability
discrimination and homophobia
• The pressures of growing up
2) Stolen childhood
• Poverty
• Homelessness
• Employment and minimum wage
• Leaving care
3) Include us: we are citizens too
• Government has little meaning to young people
• Promotion of the Convention
• Children's Rights Commissioner
• Voting age
4) I'm a person not a problem
• Juvenile Justice
• Refugees
• Asylum seekers
5) Just because I'm little…
• Smacking and family life
• Play
• Environment
These
are all crucial messages from young people in our own nation. What
is the church response to these issues? How are we involving young
people in what we are seeking to achieve in neighbourhoods? What is
the role of youth workers in helping the ideals of the convention
become a reality in church governance and in local communities? They
can be uncomfortable questions that challenge the status quo of comfortable
church life, as Mike Riddell, Mark Pierson and Cathy Kirkpatrick put
it:
"…Established
institutions are not good at coping with this new approach to common
life and decision making. It appears to be chaotic, time consuming
and open to abuse. Those who are used to exercising power as if it
were their natural right become frustrated when the group process
allows even the most reticent participants a chance to contribute.
The goal, however, is not efficiency but inclusion." The Prodigal
Project - Journey into the emerging church
The
question is : can youth and community work take authentic participation
beyond the rhetoric and good intentions of policies, theorists and
theologians, so that young people might be seen and treated as human
beings rather than 'human becomings'?
