Children Participation

Children Participation

Children Participation

Introduction

Until recently geographers have paid scant attention to the study of children and childhood (James, 1990; Sibley, 1991; Philo, 1992 and Winchester, 1991). Where studies had been carried out, most were concerned with children as future adults and attention focused on their emerging skills and cognitive development. Rarely were children studied for what they are, as active social agents in their own right, with their own lives, needs and desires (Corsaro, 1997). With the 'cultural turn', children have been (re)positioned on the geographical agenda (Aitken, 1994; Valentine, 1996a and Valentine, 1996b). One reason is that consideration of other subordinate groups in society (for example, women, minorities, the disabled) has drawn attention to the ways in which society is constructed around social and spatial assumptions. Constructivist and interpretive perspectives of this kind have led to a recognition that children as a group are amongst the least powerful within western societies (James et al., 1998) and yet, their experiences within place and space have not been systematically examined. In consequence, there has been a surge of interest in the everyday geographies of children (Aitken, 1998; Matthews, 1995; Matthews and Limb, 1998; Matthews and Limb, in press; Matthews et al., 1998; Sibley, 1995; Skelton and Valentine, 1997; Valentine, 1997a and Valentine, 1997b) and vigorous assertion for 'childhood space' to be recognised as an important dimension in social and cultural theory (James and Prout, 1992 and James et al., 1998).

Unlike other marginalised groups, however, children are not in a position within most western societies to enter into a dialogue (with adults) about their environmental concerns and geographical needs. In this sense, children occupy a special position of exclusion. Their ability to challenge the conventions of dominant ideology from within, together with the practices and processes which lead to their socio-spatial marginalisation, is mostly beyond their grasp. Children as 'outsiders' need allies and geography with its concern with the politics and power of space and spatiality (Painter and Philo, 1995) is well positioned in this respect. Just as feminist geographers have developed their studies to address issues of women's representation and participation in socio-spatial decision-making, so geographers studying children need to build upon their studies to take on the issue of children's rights. We contend that the debate about children's involvement (or lack of involvement) in society and public policy making is central to an understanding of the contemporary geography of children and childhood. In the rest of this paper we develop these ideas, within a cross-cultural framework.

The right to say about matters relating to the quality of life is a basic human right (Archard, 1993). Although this fundamental principle of citizenship and of the democratic ethos was embedded in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), it was not until the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1989 that children's right to participate in society was firmly established. Alongside Articles on provision, protection and care, the UNCRC sets out a number of ...