About | Childrightsweek2019

IT STARTED WITH AN IDEA...

As adults, we are often acutely aware that we live in a world of political uncertainty and social injustice. Those of us who have the loudest voices can struggle to be heard against a backdrop of inequality and division, and those with the quietest often remain powerless in society, suffer the most, and are dependent on others to speak for them in order that their views are even considered.

The inspiration for this project came from a desire to focus on these wider issues through the rights perspective of young children. In looking at recent media coverage it is clear that children’s rights are firmly back in the realm of public consciousness: discussions abound on subjects such as lowering the legal voting age to 16, child poverty being forecast to reach record levels in 2022, the closure of Sure Start and community youth services, cuts to nursery funding, the potential loss of free school meals… these are just some of a multitude of examples that exist. What if children from early years through Primary school, through learning more about the rights that they have as children, become empowered to make a difference and to become activists in their own lives?

For this initiative, generously funded through the Cohort Development Fund provided by Midlands 4 Cities, children’s rights are focussed on closer to home: within our own schools and communities. It is more important than ever that children (defined in international law as persons under the age of 18) have their voices, views and opinions taken into account through having access to safe spaces where they can exercise their right to be heard. For young children, this safe space is at nursery or primary school, where they can learn about their rights as children from an early age.

THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

The principles behind Child Rights Week are based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Why is the Convention so important, and what are the roles of duty bearers under the Convention? This video, produced by the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queens University Belfast, provides an excellent synopsis.

AN 'EARLY YEARS' FOCUS

The United Nations sees ‘early childhood’ as encompassing birth, infancy, the pre-school years and the transition to primary school - a critical period for the realisation of children’s rights. General Comment No.7 of the UNCRC, published by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, asserts that children who fall into this category "are entitled to special protection measures and, in accordance with their evolving capacities, the progressive exercise of their rights." General Comment No.7 was drafted after concerned were raised by the Committee that "in implementing their obligations under the Convention, States Parties have not given sufficient attention to young children as rights holders and to the laws, policies and programmes required to realise their rights during this distinct phase of their childhood." As well as proposing "an appropriate working definition of early childhood the period below the age of 8 years," the Committee reaffirmed that children of this age can form views on matters that affect them and express them both verbally and non-verbally (through mediums of art, music, dance). Furthermore, young children should not be seen as being in a constant state of transition towards 'becoming an adult,' but rather recognised as "social actors whose survival, well-being and development are dependent on and built around close relationships." These relationships are normally with a small number of key people - as educators, this includes every teacher that is involved in the tuition, care and development of the young child within their setting.

BUILDING ON PAST PRACTICE

The first Child Rights Week and launch event took place in June 2018 and was the first of its kind in Birmingham. Selly Oak Nursery School children learned about the right to a shelter and what this means for them, their friends, their family and their community. They learned about what makes a shelter, they built shelters from different materials and for different purposes, and they engaged with discussion on what happens to those children who do not have shelters or who have been forced to leave everything they know behind. This was followed by an Expo and Launch Event at the REP Theatre in Birmingham, with attendees including representatives from Selly Oak Nursery School, Birmingham City Council, UNICEF, The Teddy Trust and Selly Park Technology College, as well as other local nursery and primary schools, select organisations and postgraduate researchers and academic staff from the University of Birmingham.

This year, Child Rights Week will focus on a right close to every child's heart: the right to play.

Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states:

States Parties recognise the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.

This year, Child Rights Week will involve children at two settings: Selly Oak Nursery School and the Reception children of Moseley Church of England Primary School. Both will be learning about play and the importance of it in their lives and the lives of their friends both here and around the world. They will learn about play as leisure, recreation, as part of their cultural life, the importance of the arts, and finally the importance of rest in play. Selected organisations have been chosen from a number of interested bodies wishing to take part in Child Rights Week 2019, to visit the children at these settings and take part in tailored workshops. Detailed of selected organisations can be found in the 'News' and 'Partners' sections of this website. Feedback from the events of Child Rights Week 2019 will be given at a special conference to be held with the Children and Childhood Network at the University of Birmingham.

CHILD RIGHTS WEEK: OUR LONG-TERM VISION

For participating schools:

1. To encourage the holistic integration of a child rights ethos into the environment of nursery and primary schools in the local areas of the M4C universities.

2. To promote the importance of children’s rights in the lives of every nursery and primary school child in the above schools and communities, and to encourage collaboration, networking and future events within them.

3. To encourage parents and teachers, as duty bearers of the rights of the child, to think about the importance of children’s rights in their schools, their families, extended families and their own communities.

For the Midlands 4 Cities DTP:

4. To cultivate and maintain relationships between the M4C DTP, local schools of the 8 M4C DTP universities, local communities of the 8 M4C DTP universities, key actors within these communities (local councillors, MPs) and organisations with a keen interest in promoting the rights of the child.

5. The launch of the initiative will take place in Birmingham, but expansion is planned to other cities where the M4C DTP are based in future years.

For the Midlands 4 Cities DTP cohort and wider PhD cohort within Midlands 4 Cities DTP institutions:

5. To further promote children’s rights within the M4C DTP cohort; to encourage the cohort to think about how their PhD projects link with the rights of the child, and in turn encourage them to think of its application outside of academia in the education of young children and their communities.

6. To encourage arts and humanities students (and students of other disciplines) at all M4C universities to do the same.

My team and I look forward very much to hearing from interested schools and organisations dedicated to promoting the rights of the child within the school environment.