Making your voice heard
It’s a sad fact, but many of the decisions that affect children and young people are often taken without asking them about their opinions or concerns.
The good news is that peoples’ voices are now being heard both locally and nationally.
It’s important, and necessary to involve children and young people in the decisions that affect them. That’s because it’s now a requirement in various laws and treaties.
It’s the law
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an international human rights treaty, which applies to every child and young person under 18 years old.
Adopted by the UK in December 1991, it has 40 articles, all of which give direct rights to young people.
For example:
- Article 12 of the Convention states that young people have a right to express their views on anything that affects them, and for those views to be listened to.
- It also says that young people have a right to freedom of expression: to seek, receive and get information through the media of their choice (Article 13).
- Young people also have a right to leisure, play and participation (Article 31)and have the right to a decent standard of living (Article 27).
Other laws include:
- Local Government Act 1989: Local authorities are required to consult with the local community, including young people, as part of their Best Value Reviews.
- Children Act 2004: This mentions consulting young people in decision-making both individually and generally. Section 10 of the Act gets children's services authorities and partners working together to improve childrens’ well-being. This includes supporting school council participation, mock school elections and voluntary and community engagement.
- Health and Social Care Act 2001: Section 11 of this Act requires health authorities, Primary Care Trusts and NHS Trusts to involve and consult people who use or may use their services.
- Education Act 2002: Section 176 requires local education authorities and governing bodies to create guidance on pupil consultation.
- Crime and Disorder Act 1998: Section 6 (2) requires consultation with local people in the development of local crime and disorder strategies.
- Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999: Section 8 (5) requires a youth offender panel to produce a written record of the programme agreed by the young person, "in a language capable of being readily understood by, or explained to, the offender".
- The Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003: This Act aims to improve the safeguards for children by stopping unsuitable people from working with them. The Act allows Scottish ministers to set up the Disqualified from Working with Children List, which started on 10 January 2005.
- Standards in Scotland's Schools Act 2000: This Act gives children and young people rights in education for the first time. The Act states that children have the right to be educated in a school and that the views of children and young people must be taken into account in all decisions which significantly affect them.
Despite all this legislation, the case for children and young people's participation is about more than laws and policies.
Common sense case
Young people's involvement shouldn’t just apply to services aimed at them, like school education or care services. It affects to all services provided by local and central government, such as the health service and the voluntary sector.
All these services affect the welfare and interests of children and young people.
Making sure that young people are involved in decisions benefits not only young people, but also the services they use and the wider communities.
Everyone from small community groups, to schools, to police forces, to housing providers can reap the benefits of the greater involvement of young people.
What are the benefits to services?
Improved communication
Listening to young people and acting upon their comments, services can be improved to suit young people's needs more.
Providing a more useful/user-friendly service
- Involving young people in the shaping of services will help to avoid waste and inefficiency, as there is far less chance of delivering something young people do not want or need.
- Young people's participation creates informed and interested users of services. They are more likely to be interested in something succeeding if they helped to create it.
- Young people are best placed to promote a service to their peers, ensuring a greater chance of long-term success.
Provides learning opportunities
- Young people's participation also benefits those individuals involved in the delivery of services as they bring a different perspective to service planning and delivery.
- It can help members of staff to develop their skills and knowledge.
- Services get the benefits of using young people as a resource, rather than treating them as a burden.
Benefits to the community
Citizens now!
Involving young people in decision-making sends out the message that they are part of the community, with a valuable role to play and valid contributions to make.
This helps to create a community based on belonging and ownership. This encourages more democratic attitudes and helps create feelings of citizenship. Mutual respect means that young people may treat others with respect. It can also promote better understanding between adults and young people.
Collaborative learning opportunities
- Adults and young people working together in the community are more likely to find solutions that meet their different needs and have a greater chance of lasting success.
- Adults will learn more about their community by learning about young people's experiences of it.
- It provides an opportunity for young people who don’t usually want to ‘fit in’ with others to have a voice.
Collaborative working needs both sides to work together towards a shared goal.
Without this sharing of aims it may be that adults and young people are suspicious of each other, unable to understand each other's point of view and unable to work together.
Benefits to young people
Recognition
- Participation in decision making gives young people the message that their opinions and needs are important.
- Young people are the experts on the services they receive and are the best people to be involved in decisions about what should be provided.
- It helps to increase self-esteem and self-confidence.
A learning opportunity
- Young people have the opportunity to learn new skills and increase their knowledge. These skills can help young people take a more active part in decisions about their communities and other areas of their lives.
- Young people feel valued as young citizens and learn about their responsibilities as well as their rights.
- Having the opportunity to influence decisions and policies leads to a better understanding of, and sense of ownership of, a project/service/community.