Why do we need Children's Rights?
The Convention is based on children being individuals in their own right. This means that they do not belong to their parents or the government. However, when children are born, they rely on adults for everything they need. Children need rights to make sure they are well cared for and can grow towards independence.
The video below explains what children's rights are and why they are important.
The video explains that there are 42 rights in the UNCRC. They are there to help children all over the world be, safe, healthy, develop and learn, and have the best chances in life.
What happens if Children’s Rights are ignored?
Changes and problems in the world sometimes have a bigger impact on children than on adults. Children are still growing. This means that certain things can have a worse effect on them than on adults. This includes things like poor living conditions, disease, not having enough food to eat, pollution and poverty.
What governments do, or don’t do, affects children. Governments have many areas they need to make decisions about – and almost all of them affect children. When they make decisions without thinking about children, it can have a bad impact on the future for the everyone, especially children. (For example, how governments decide to spend money on schools, health or housing.)
How to make sure Children’s Rights are respected
We should listen to and consider children's views on issues and decisions that affect them. This includes at home, in school, in local communities and even in governments. However, children do not usually vote or take part in political processes. The people in charge need to make special efforts to include children’s views. They need to make time and place to listen to children. They need to listen to what they are saying. Then they need to take what they hear seriously in all decision making that affects the children.
Cornwall Council listens to children and young people in a variety of ways including Cornwall Youth Council and the Right On Survey. See the Projects and Activities page for more details.
Here is a video about Trewirgie School. This school has signed up to be a UNICEF Rights Respecting School. This means that the children there are taught about their rights, and given opportunities to influence decisions. They can tell someone when they feel things are unfair. The teachers and head teacher at Trewirgie School talk about how important it is, and the difference it makes for the children.