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Issue Brief

Youth Voice in Federal Government Policy - USA

Scope of the Problem  factual statements on the extent of the problem in the past, current, or future

• There is a widespread commonly held belief that children are entitled to certain social and economic rights; namely, to education, to health care, to and adequate standard of living for proper development, to play. In addition, the ideology that children have entitlement from abuse, neglect, and exploitation are also agreed upon. Although these are violated frequently, there is a trend towards their greater recognition as a goal. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child formally and explicitly acknowledges these rights for children and recognizes that children are subjects of rights, rather than merely recipients of adult protection, and that those rights demand that children themselves are entitled to be heard. Every member of the United Nations except for the United States and Somalia has ratified it.
• While Article XII is only one part of The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child that needs ratification in its entirety, it is Article XII that plays a key role in advancing the decision making rights of young people across America. It states: 
• 1. Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.
• 2. For this purpose, the child shall in particular be provided the opportunity to be heard in any judicial and administrative proceedings affecting the child, either directly, or through a representative or an appropriate body, in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of national law. 
• It is important to understand clearly what Article XII does and does not say to understand how it can function in the status quo. It does not give children the right to autonomy. It does not give children the right to control over all decisions irrespective of their implications either for themselves or others. It does not give children the right to ride roughshod over the rights of their parents. However, it does introduce a radical and profound challenge to traditional attitudes, which assume that children should be seen and not heard. If anything, the goal of ratifying Article XII is for the philosophical change in attitude towards young people.
• Problem: Arguments Often Used to Challenge Participation by Children: 
• It will lead to lack of respect for parents. Parental rights in America are regarded highly and protected.
• Children lack the competence or experience to participate.
• Children must learn to take responsibility before they can be granted rights.
• Giving children rights to be heard will take away their childhood. 
• Some children become ‘professionalized’ child speakers.
• It is difficult to sustain initiatives as children grow up.
• Children can be manipulated by adult agendas. 
• These arguments have been disproved in a variety of ways by other counties who have ratified the article.
•  Reasons to Allow Children Have a Voice:  
• Denying children a voice encourages impunity for abusers.
• Children are people and all people have a right to express their views.
• Children should be heard when decisions are being made that directly affect their lives- in the family, school, local communities, and at the national political level.
• Children have a body of experience and knowledge that is unique to their situation; listening to their voice leads to better decisions. 
• Only by experiencing respect for their own views and discovering the importance of their respect for the views of others, will they acquire the capacity and willingness to listen to others and began to understand the process and value of democracy. 

Past Policy & Program Milestones  key legislation and milestones including significant policy and funding shifts, major studies, etc.

• The reason why the United States hasn’t ratified the treaty remains unclear.

• A Chicago Journal of International Law by Kenneth Roth entitled “The Charade of US Ratification of International Human Rights Treaties” explain the US first opposed the protocol because it wanted to continue recruiting youths immediately upon their graduation from high school, whether or not they had turned eighteen.^[1]

• Another explanation could be a general attitude towards young people as incapable of making their own decisions.

• Yet another could be how the protocol would complicate legal proceedings.

Current Policy & Programs  summary of current policies in the form of legislation, programs, and funding

Key Organizations contacts for public and private organizations

• Government
• Executive Branch
•  
• Legislative Branch
•  
• Judicial Branch 
•  
• Non-Profit
• Service Providing
•  
• Advocacy/Membership/Network
• Humanium for Children's Rights — Olivier Soret, Founder and President  
• Human Rights Watch — 
• UNICEF —  
• Foundation
•  
• Other
•   

Bibliography   web sites, reports, articles, and other reference material

• Lansdown, Gerison. Promoting Children's Participation in Democratic Decision-Making. Ticci, Siena: Arti Grafiche, 2001 

Contributor(s):

Footnotes

1. Roth, Kenneth. "The Charade of US Ratification of International Human Rights Treaties." Global Policy Forum. Fall 2000 http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/un/2003/0806charade.htm ▲