The child as citizen

The American Academy of Political and Social Science has decided to open online during January free access to its January 2011 issue of The ANNALS, "The Child as Citizen." This covers the 20th Anniversary of the CRC. The volume, edited by Felton Earls, will be open for free downloads through the end of January, meaning that individuals and institutions do NOT need to have a subscription to the journal to access and download the full-text articles.

Table of Content of the January 2011 Issue:
o Felton Earls - Children: From Rights to Citizenship
o Paula S. Fass - A Historical Context for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
o Geraldine Van Bueren - Multigenerational Citizenship: The Importance of Recognizing Children as National and International Citizens
o Marta Maurás - Public Policies and Child Rights: Entering the Third Decade of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
o Irene Rizzini - The Promise of Citizenship for Brazilian Children: What Has Changed?
o Elizabeth Bartholet - Ratification by the United States of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: Pros and Cons from a Child’s Rights Perspective
o Donald J. Hernandez, Nancy A. Denton, and Victoria L. Blanchard - Children in the United States of America: A Statistical Portrait by Race-Ethnicity, Immigrant Origins, and Language
o James Bohman - Children and the Rights of Citizens: Nondomination and Intergenerational Justice
o Andrew Rehfeld - The Child as Democratic Citizen
o Allison James - To Be (Come) or Not to Be (Come): Understanding Children’s Citizenship
o Judith Torney-Purta and Jo-Ann Amadeo - Participatory Niches for Emergent Citizenship in Early Adolescence: An International Perspective
o Daniel Hart and Robert Atkins - American Sixteen- and Seventeen-Year-Olds Are Ready to Vote
o Mary Carlson and Felton Earls - Adolescents as Deliberative Citizens: Building Health Competence in Local Communities
o Clotilde Fonseca and Maria Eugenia Bujanda - Promoting Children’s Capacities for Active and Deliberative Citizenship with Digital Technologies: The CADE Project in Costa Rica

Children as active citizens

The Inter-Agency Working Group on Children’s Participation (IAWGCP)has just published two publications on children’s citizenship:

Children as active citizens - a policy and programme guide for commitments and obligations for children’s civil rights and civic engagement in East Asia and the Pacific

Children as active citizens - an introductory booklet

The ‘Children as Active Citizens’ publications define children’s citizenship and show how children’s civil rights can be operationalised. The publications explain links between children’s citizenship and development goals, between children’s civil rights and their rights to survival, protection and development. Responsibilities of government and adults are clearly listed along with measurable results for children’s civil rights and active citizenship, including indicators for measuring children’s civil rights and citizenship.

Children as Active Citizens presents an agenda for the promotion of children’s civil rights and civic engagement:

• Promoting a common understanding of children’s citizenship, civil rights and civic engagement;

• Defining programme-specific implications for children’s civil rights and civic engagement (for example in education, child protection, communication, health, emergencies);

• Developing global, regional or country-specific agendas for children’s citizenship and civil rights;

• Developing systems for monitoring children’s civil rights and civic engagement;

• Advocating for wider respect, protection and fulfilment of children’s civil rights, for example on issues of complaints mechanisms for children, early marriage, justice for children, and children’s right to information.

Contents of the booklet:

Introduction to children as active citizens

Birth and civil registration

Expression of opinion and involvement in decisions

Access to information

Complaints mechanisms

Justice for children

Civic engagement and competencies of citizens

Children and the media

Children influencing public decisions

Children-led associations

Content of the programme and policy guide:

Introduction

Part One: Defining children’s citizenship and civil rights

What is citizenship?

Are children citizens?

Capacities for citizenship

Why are children’s civil rights and citizenship important?

Why have children’s citizenship rights been neglected?

An agenda for children’s citizenship and civil rights

Regional context for children’s citizenship and civil rights

References and resources

Part Two: Operationalizing children’s civil rights

1. Birth and civil registration

2. Children’s expression of opinion and control over decisions in daily life

3. Access to information

4. Feedback and complaints mechanisms

5. Justice for children

6. Economic citizenship and access to resources

Part Three: Developing and practicing active citizenship

7. Citizenship competencies and civic engagement

8. Children as active citizens in the media

9. Children influencing public decisions

10. Children-led associations

Annexes

Indicator checklist for children’s citizenship and civil rights

Common myths about (and some risks in) children’s participation

Glossary and acronyms

Index