Participation

Child-friendly justice

As part of its programme Building a Europe for and with Children, the Council of Europe is developing guidelines on child-friendly justice. The Council of Europe has begun a consultation to enable children to contribute their views to the development of these guidelines. During February and March 2010, the OCO facilitated four groups of young people living in Ireland to participate in this Council of Europe consultation. To find out what the young people had to say take a look at the report below,

Consultation with children on child-friendly justice

Below read which rights are important to some of the Transition Year students that have done work experience at the OCO.

Why the right to education is important to me

“State Parties recognise the right of the child to education”-
- Article 28 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Education is the key to success. Therefore, for a successful life, one has to get a good education no matter the sex, the background or the colour of the person.

Everybody has a dream of becoming somebody in the future. For this ambition to come true, the secret is education. The ability to write, to speak and to think are all helped by education.

To become somebody in the future, like a doctor, a teacher, a nurse, a president, a designer or a trader, education helps. The treasure and potential of life lies in education. Children are not to be denied their right to education because their future path depends on education. It keeps the children busy and occupies their minds. When children are not educated, they might end up on the street, which is very harmful to them, their families and to society. Children not getting an education can have a bad effect on the economic growth of the country. Schools also need to have adequate facilities to help children in their education.

Without education, life is less interesting. If we want to contribute to society, we should take our education seriously as children. We can be useful to our society and achieve our own goals only if our right to education is not denied. Children should also learn and do their homework if they are given the chance to be educated. Sometimes it is very difficult, but let’s try our best to help our country.

So children, you need yourself, your loved ones need you, your society needs you, and the way to respond is to make the most of your education. Education denied is somehow life denied.

Nana
November 2008

Why the right to develop my talents and abilities is important to me

“State Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to … the development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential” -
Article 29.1(a) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Each one of us has some talents. It could be one or maybe more, but talents are a very important piece of us that we should develop and show off to everybody.

This right means a lot to me. We have talents and abilities to impress others and to show them our amazing personality and unique style. We’re trying as much as we can to be better at what we do and to practise and work on our abilities. But first of all, we have to find out what things we’re best at and what is this magic something that we feel great in and enjoy every second of with the smile on our faces. We’ve a right to have this all and nobody can stop us from representing it in front people. Talent is our treasure and we can call ourselves lucky because we have it. So we have to make sure that nobody can take it off us and we must have the passion to keep it in us.

This right is important to me because I am one of the young people that is trying to make my dream come true by showing off my talents to others. I have big plans made up by my self and my dream is to make it happen. Everything I do is helping me to make a step towards the thing I would love to get. I’m joining dance classes because dance is what I love and what I want to do for the rest of my life. So I have to start my way even though the start is not that easy. I can’t give up because I believe that some day I’ll get what I want and it will be the best day of my life. I have a lot of dreams, abilities and talents that I want to develop. I also love art and that kind of thing. A day without music would be worthless to me. I have this energy to keep it going and make it better. I can’t stop because I don’t want to waste time on things that are useless. And that’s what it is all about. I think this right is important because if it wouldn’t exist and children and young people wouldn’t be allowed to develop their talents and abilities the world would be grey and unhappy, children and young people would have nothing to do and everything would turn upside down. This right puts lots of colours in our lives and allows us to have our dreams and plans for the future.

This right is also important because all children and young people should have some destiny and the chance to develop their talents and abilities will help them live their destiny in the future. This right also gives us the chance to live a better life and to feel good about the world. It gives us the chance to develop our talents and abilities and to do better and better. We have the chance to practise it by joining clubs and other organisations.

Everybody has some talents and abilities. They just have to believe in themselves and find out what the thing they’re good at really is.

Natalia
November 2008

Why the right not to be discriminated against is important to me

“State Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind … State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination” – Article 2 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

When I read this article I somehow feel that "each child" should be highlighted with a big yellow marker or underlined thickly to emphasise that every child living on this planet has the right to ... rights! No matter who they are: boy or girl, black or white, from Africa or America, from Dublin or Donegal, we are all entitled to these basic but vital and necessary human rights in the Convention.

In my personal opinion I think that this is overall the most important right in the Convention because, before children and young people consider any of the other rights in the Convention, they must understand Article 2 and grasp that each article is significant to their lives. It makes children and young people realise that they have every right that follows Article 2 and not one child can be denied such things as education, family and care, play and the right to live.

Article 2 strikes at any discrimination of a child because of their religion or culture and strongly states that by law no child can be treated unfairly on any basis.

Article 2 helps children and young people around Ireland, Europe and the world realise and understand that regardless of money or language, they have rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child applies to them.

Shauna, YAP