Published in association with Save the Children Priscilla Alderson examines the often overlooked issue of the rights of young children, starting with the question of how the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child applies to the youngest children, from birth to eight years of age. The question of finding a balance between young children's rights to protection, to provision (resources and services) and to participation (expressing their views, being responsible) is discussed. The author suggests that, in the belief we are looking after their best interests, we have become overprotective of children and deny them the freedom to be expressive, creative and active, and that improving the way adults and children communicate is the best way of redressing that balance. This second edition has been updated and expanded to include the relevance of UNCRC rights of premature babies, international examples such as the Chinese one-child policy, children's influence on regional policies, and the influence on young children's lives of policies such as Every Child Matters and those of the World Bank, IMF, OECD and UNICEF. This readable, informative and thought-provoking book is a compelling invitation to rethink our attitudes to young children's rights in the light of new theories, research and practical evidence about children's daily lives. It will be of interest to anyone who works with young children.

This book provides different perspectives on the concept of children’s rights, including policy, educational, and children’s perspectives. It examines how the crucial ideas of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are respected and implemented in 14 countries in five regions of the world. It looks at early childhood education, children’s participatory rights, and at how these rights are promoted and guaranteed in different countries. It explores the professional practice of education and its complexities, challenges and dilemmas, as well as the role of play, and of listening and participation. The book advocates children’s rights today, arguing for its vital importance, in the best interests of the children. In doing so, it furthers the understanding of children’s rights and spreads knowledge about the Convention, as a means of celebrating its 30th anniversary. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) comprises the potential to change the lives of children to the very best. It may exalt children from the position of marginalized citizens to the centre of policies all over the world. Even though the concept of children’s rights is omnipresent, the respect for children’s rights must be discussed. While the Convention brings the new perspective of children as citizens to the world, there are still challenges in its application. The book interrogates challenges in understanding and applying children rights and offers possible answers to these challenges. The ratification process itself, does not guarantee that children’s rights are respected. While all adults should take responsibility for implementing the UNCRC in everyday life, Early Childhood Education should give opportunities for children to learn and live their rights.

This collection of essays by a variety of scholars, compiled to celebrate the silver anniversary of The International Journal of Children’s Rights, builds on work already in the literature to reveal where we are now at and how the law concerned with children is reacting to new developments. New, or relatively new subject matter is explored, such as film classification, intersex genital mutilation, the right to development. Rights within the context of sport are given an airing. We are offered new perspectives on discipline, on the significance of “rights flowing downhill,” on the so-called “General Principles.“ The uses to which the CRC is put in legal reasoning in some legal systems is critically examined. Though not intended as an audit, the collection offers a fascinating image of where the field of children's right is at now, the progress that has been made, and what issues will require work in the future.

A marked change in traditional thinking about children and childhood was promoted by the adoption by the United Nations (in 1989) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In the early 90s sociologists in the United States and the UK developed Childhood Studies to promote a holistic view of children's lives, recognition of their competence and agency, and the impact and value of their everyday experiences. As a result of this impetus, different thinking has emerged about the role and recognition of children, the institutions of childhood, and the way we view and treat children in modern societies. This book focuses on research emerging from Children's Rights and Childhood Studies thinking, which has important implications for developing policies and practices to improve children's well being and rights. The author presents the implications of children's rights for six contexts of children's everyday lives: families; early childhood education; schooling; child protection services; health services; and employment.

Childrens human rights are regularly violated around the world. Child soldiers, child slavery, and child prostitution are some of the more graphic examples this books deals with, but hungry, sick, and orphaned children are equally at risk and more prevalent. In the United States, children suffer similar abuses, but some are unique to the United States justice system. Unlike most of the rest of the world, the U.S. is a well-developed western nation in which juvenile offenders can be tried as adults and subjected to capital punishment. This book brings together a wide array of original essays from a variety of academic and practitioner perspectives on human rights and the status of children. The details are disturbing the message, powerful We must vigorously extend the universal declaration of human rights to the most vulnerable humans of all--the children of the world, starting at home in the United States.

Considers how to implement children's rights in the twenty-first century through a child rights-based approach to sustainable development.

This text considers the developing law in England and Wales as it applies to the burgeoning and confusing subject of the rights of children. It examines the extent to which the emerging legal principles can be harnessed to fulfil those rights.

Providing perspectives, insights and recommendations, this is a comprehensive overview of the current state of children's rights and education around the world. Written by experts in their fields, the book includes chapters on: national accountability how international standards can be implemented the rights of children with special needs respecting children's views in education education and democracy how the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child can be implemented. This authoritative and thought-provoking volume will be essential reading for anyone involved in, or concerned about, the rights of children in education around the world.

A research book that deals with the subjects of children's rights movement, vexing questions about the rights of children, and especially about the treacherous territory where the rights of children conflict with traditionally acknowledged rights of parents to raise their children as they choose, without interference from outside authorities.

Written to commemorate 30 years since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), The Routledge International Handbook of Young Children's Rights reflects upon the status of children aged 0-8 years around the world, whether they are respected or neglected, and how we may move forward. With contributions from international experts and emerging authorities on children's rights, Murray, Blue Swadener and Smith have produced this highly significant textbook on young children's rights globally. Containing sections on policy, along with rights to protection, provision and participation for young children, this book combines discussions of children's rights and early childhood development, and investigates the crucial yet frequently overlooked link between the two. The authors examine how policy, practice and research could be utilised to address the barriers to universal respect for children, to create a safer and more enriching world for them to live and flourish in. The Routledge International Handbook of Young Children's Rights is an essential resource for students and academics in early childhood education, social work and paediatrics, as well as for researchers, policymakers, leaders and practitioners involved in the provision of children's services and paedeatric healthcare, and international organisations with an interest in or ability to influence national or global policies on children's rights.