EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In late summer of 2008 Young Scot was commissioned by the Scottish Government to seek the views of young people from across Scotland on what they thought about the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child's Concluding Observations relating to the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child ( UNCRC). The consultation explored the levels of awareness children and young people had regarding children's rights and their thoughts on which rights were most important for them, and for Scotland as a whole, to take action on.
The aims and objectives of the consultation project were to:
- provide a measure of young people's awareness of children's rights and rights more generally
- raise awareness of children's rights, the UNCRC and their concluding observations with young people
- give young people the opportunity to share their experiences and express their views in relation to children's rights
- gain insights into what children and young people think are priorities for action in Scotland in relation to children's rights
To achieve these aims and objectives, the following processes were developed:
- An online survey available via the national youth information portal ( www.youngscot.org)
- Offline paper-based surveys
- Four workshops with groups of young people to gather more in-depth views and opinions
- Five Local Investigation Teams of young people carrying out peer-led research in local areas
- Awareness-raising sessions on children's rights run by the outreach team
Over 800 young people were engaged in the consultation process. The majority of the young people who participated were aged between 11 and 17 years old and were at school. There was a good geographical spread with almost all Local Authorities represented in the consultation (there were no identifiable participants from Moray, Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles). The consultation was also designed to ensure that as many 'hard to reach' and 'seldom heard' young
people were included as possible. This involved engaging established groups of young people in both the workshop sessions and the Local Investigation Teams. As a result the consultation featured a diverse range of young people including those who are: looked after and accommodated; seeking asylum; advocates for young people with disability; young people who have offended and gypsy travellers.
Key Findings
Survey
The young people we surveyed indicated that:
- 66% had heard of 'children's rights'
- However, awareness of the UNCRC was low with only one in five saying they knew at least a 'fair amount' about it and a quarter saying they had never heard of it
- 8-11 year olds were most likely to know about children's rights and the UNCRC
- 12-14 year olds were least likely to know about children's rights and the UNCRC
- Teachers were the most influential source of information about rights for all ages
- School was considered the best place to learn about rights by the majority
- But 40% still favoured out of school learning environments in relation to rights
Workshops
The young people we consulted with came from diverse backgrounds and as a result their views on which Concluding Observations should be priorities for Scotland to take action were diverse too.
Young people in secure accommodation felt Youth Justice was the most important issue. They said:
- They were unhappy with the Children's Hearing system
- The current age of criminal responsibility is inappropriate
- Sex education should be taught in primary schools
- Some addictions workers are ineffective
- The design of tags were so obtrusive they contravened their freedom to be a child
- There should be a place they can go to prove themselves before being sent to a secure unit
- There should be more care units for young people
Some homeless young people in Glasgow felt Health & Wellbeing was the most important issue. They said:
- Some felt less money should be spent on anti-drugs messages as young people make their own minds up through experimentation
- Counselling services should be more widely available to young people
- Some counselling services are condescending and age inappropriate
- Police, Social Workers and the media do not always act in children's best interests
- Some young people would benefit from more guidance and leadership with regard to educational and life choices
Young people from a primary school in Fife also felt Health & Wellbeing was the most important issue. They said:
- It was important to tackle bullying
- Exclusions are rarely appropriate for children in primary school but ok for those in secondary school
- There should be alternatives to detention for young asylum seekers
- Their right to privacy was very important
- Some families should spend more time together
Young people from a youth club in the Borders felt Child Trafficking and Child Exploitation was the most important issue. They said:
- This was the most important theme because the children were in most danger
- Implementation of the UNCRC is important because all other rights hinge on it
- Smacking is wrong: all of the time for some young people; occasionally wrong for others
Local Investigation Teams ( LITs)
The five LITs undertook peer research projects in their area exploring children's rights. Key findings from their investigations included:
- play areas and school playgrounds should be better equipped and managed
- safety is a common issue where young people feel their rights are being infringed. Many do not feel safe playing in their local area due to the activities of older children and adults
- bullying still persists and more should be done to tackle it
- awareness of the UNCRC and children's rights amongst young people is very limited
- however, most young people have firm ideas about which rights are important
- many young people feel they are not respected or listened to by adults
- children, young people and adults should trust each other more
- most young people would be keen to learn more about their rights
Priority Themes
Over the course of the consultation exercise we covered all of the UNCRC's concluding observation themes as identified in the Scottish Government's ' UK Concluding Observations 2009' booklet to some degree. However, as noted in the methodology, it was impossible to cover them all in each session. As you would expect some themes generated more debate and discussion than others. We have provided a top line summary of the findings for each theme below.
Implementation of the UNCRC
This was not a major issue for the young people we spoke to. Only one young person identified it as being the most important issue for Scotland to take action on.
Fairness and Equality
It was anticipated that the thematic issues relating to fairness and equality would be very important for the young people we spoke with, particularly discrimination against children by adults and the media. However, this was not the case with few young people making this a priority. Respect for the views of the child, especially in the school environment, was a right that some felt was important and not being respected.
Freedom to be a Child
The right to privacy is important for many young people and was a theme that arose across a number of groups. We had anticipated issues relating to Anti Social Behaviour Orders ( ASBOs) to be of concern to the young people we spoke to but this was not the case with some being completely unaware of what ASBOs were. The issue of physical punishment in the family predictably provoked a variety of views ranging from those who felt it was an essential option for parents to retain in order to effectively discipline their children to those who felt it was abhorrent.
Family Life and Children in Care
Many of the young people we spoke to had limited first hand experience of the issues outlined in this theme. However, others had had experiences of care services and suggested more should be done to keep families together and where this is not possible they mostly felt there should me more provision of care units for young people.
Health and Wellbeing
A number of the concluding observations in this section relate to rights for young people with disabilities. For many of the young people we spoke to this was not a priority issue, probably because they felt it did not impact them directly. The other main thematic issue relating to health and wellbeing is child poverty and this proved to be a major point of discussion and debate in all of the groups, particularly when related to outcome indicators such as sexual health and use of drugs and alcohol.
Education and Play
The issues relating to this theme probably generated more debate than any other. Bullying, school exclusions and the quality of school playgrounds are very important issues for many of the young people we spoke to. This was true for almost all of the groups and some of the local investigation teams. Bullying was reported to be widespread in schools. However, some of the younger children also highlighted how in their home area older children and adults could often create an air of fear which inhibited their ability to play after school. The subject of school exclusions was not widely discussed except by the primary school children who generally felt exclusions were appropriate for secondary pupils but not for those of primary age except in extreme circumstances. Playground facilities were deemed by many to be inadequate and in need of investment in terms of maintenance and / or new equipment.
Children Seeking Asylum
This was not raised by any group of young people to be a priority issue for Scotland. It was discussed by the children in the primary school workshop who felt that children seeking asylum should be treated fairly and not be locked up.
Child Trafficking and Child Exploitation
Similarly this was not a priority issue for most of the young people we spoke to. However, one group felt very strongly that this was the most important issue for Scotland to take action on because the young people at risk were in most imminent need of help.
Youth Justice
Most of the young people we spoke to expressed a view about the age of criminal responsibility and guessed what they thought the current legal age was. The majority felt the proposed new age of 12 years old was about right, although very few correctly identified the current age of eight years old. Some were shocked when they realised how young you could be held legally responsible for your actions. Apart from this universally discussed issue youth justice was not deemed a priority for the majority of the young people we spoke to. The exception was a group of young people currently held in a secure unit in Glasgow. They had a number of observations relating to their experiences with the youth justice system. Many felt there should be a 'halfway house' where they could get a second chance to prove themselves before they were detained.
Summary
We found that by presenting the UNCRC to children and young people in ways which were fun and relevant to their lives they were more likely to engage with the subject. The consultation may indicate that awareness of the UNCRC is not particularly high amongst children and young people but by applying our approach we have been able to demonstrate that they do have a vibrant connection and understanding of the issues included within it.