Papua New Guinea
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| Click on the map to read more about children in Papua New Guinea. |
| Map by Zuanzuanfuwa. |
Some young people in Papua New Guinea got involved in taking actions against corporal punishment through school. They entered an essay competition, in which they had to write about a children’s issue that they were interested in. Their teachers marked the essays and then Save the Children staff selected some of the ones they thought were best. The young people who wrote these essays became part of the Save the Children Youth Advisory Committee. After they had become part of the committee, the young people decided for themselves what issues they would work on and how they would do it.
(Essay competitions and other competitions are very popular in Papua New Guinea and they are the most usual way for children and young people to be involved in decision-making. (The Papua New Guinea flag was designed by a 15 year old girl who won a 1971 competition.) Sometimes children find out about competitions and events through adverts in the children’s section of the national newspaper. Children also write articles for this newspaper.)
The young people in the Youth Advisory Committee held a meeting before the UN Violence Study, where they chose a young person to attend the regional launch of the UN Violence StudyA very big piece of research where adults from the United Nations found out all about violence against children all over the world. Click to read more about it. in Bangkok, Thailand. Nos Werao, 17, was chosen. He was in the Papua New Guinea Working Group – Violence against Children in School. This is what the CRIN website (Child Rights Information Network) says about him:
“Nas Werao is in grade 10 at Good Shepherd Lutheran High School in a small town of Madang in Papua New Guinea. As school captain he was selected to attend the child participation project meeting where 30 representatives from different youth groups, schools and churches came together to discuss the problem of violence against children. He was nominated by this group to represent them at the Regional Consultation on Violence against Children.”
At the same time as the launch of the UN Violence Study, about 6 young people aged 15 – 18 in different provinces launched a campaign for legal reform. They ran a workshop on positive discipline for parents, a seminar on corporal punishment, and had a press conference. The launch of the campaign was reported in the national paper.
Two of the young people are still very active in the campaign for law reform, and young people may be a part of the new Working Group for law reform.
There are plans to do child-led research into corporal punishment, and more awareness raising for children. There are also plans to make a Kids Link group, like Kids Link Fiji.
Comments from adults who work with children:
Adults’ mindset that "children should be seen but not heard" can be a problem. In particular, parents’ attitudes can be difficult. Children often need their parents’ permission before they can participate in actions, and their parents may not let them participate. Children are often assertive about their rights at school, but not at home.
It would be good if parents’ attitudes changed. It might be possible for newspapers to help with this. It would also be good if discussion of corporal punishment could be included in the school curriculum. A new education policy, the Behaviour Management Policy, is about to be introduced, and this might be a good opportunity to raise awareness and change things.
Read more about the problems that children face in taking action, and how they solve them.
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