Problems and solutions
In the questionnaires used to make this website, one of the questions asked what caused problems for children participating in actions against corporal punishment, and what would make it easier.
People mentioned lots of different things which could make taking action difficult for children. We hope that knowing what problems other people have faced and how they have solved them might make it easier for children to take actions in the future.
Of course, the people who filled in the questionnaires don't represent their whole countries! In every country, people will have lots of different experiences and opinions about these things. We are always happy to have more information about any country. If you would like us to change or add to this article, please contact us.
Some of the problems are very difficult ones, and we don't know all the answers! But we have put some solutions that people suggested in the orange boxes in the article.
Here is a list of all the problems which people mentioned. Click to read about each problem, or just read the whole article.
- Parental permission and children's time - parents won’t let children take part in actions, or children don’t have time.
- Adults don’t want children to learn about their rights.
- Adults don’t listen to children.
- Adults who work with children don't know how to support them.
- Children don’t know how to speak out about their rights.
- Children are scared to participate.
- Discrimination - because of gender, disabilty and other things.
- Practical problems - cost, problems protecting children's privacy and making sure they are safe.
Parental permission and children's time
Many parents all over the world use
"In St. Peters Primary School Kanyanya, the headmistress Winifred Byansi reported that several parents… insist[ed] that they can not have their children in a school which does not beat them. In fact, she confessed to knowing at least four parents who took away their children as a result."
And a worker from the USA says that:
"Parental approval is necessary to run some activities about corporal punishment with children, as there are laws about communicating with children on sensitive subjects."
Other people mentioned that some parents and carers did not want their children to participate in actions because they felt the children should be spending time on other things:
"In general, parents... are not very supportive of children’s participation in actions against corporal punishment. They want their children to focus on school. Often, only clever/academic children are allowed to take part in participation activities." Hong Kong
In Timor Leste, participation had very bad consequences for one child:
"One child acted as a spokesperson at a conference. Unfortunately this caused problems for this particular child, as the orphanage in which she lived didn’t like her spending time on this instead of her chores and threw her out, leaving her with nowhere to live."
A related problem is that, even if parents allow children to take part in actions, the children may not have time:
"It can be difficult for children to be involved because awareness-raising activities often take place during schooltime, or on Sundays, when children go to church and do activities with their family." Samoa
Sometimes, meetings where important decisions are made take place during schooltime, making it difficult for children to attend.
What can we do?
Several people mentioned the importance of scheduling events and activities at appropriate times for children:
"Adults at Mapusaga o Aiga are trying to change their workplan and do more at weekends to make it easier for children to be involved. They also ask parents to let their children be involved with activities on Sundays – some parents allow this and some don’t." Samoa
"It is important to make sure that activities are scheduled when it is convenient for children, for example only during the summer holidays." PhilippinesSome adults mentioned that they had tried to have contact with the families of the children who were taking actions:
"[The children] held a special meeting for their parents. Parents were very touched to learn what their children had been doing. Some parents even cried. They were very proud of their children. Before the meeting, some parents had not been happy about their children being involved. But after the meeting they were more supportive. When the children had been making the film, adults working with the children often phoned parents to tell them about what their children were doing." Mongolia
"At the beginning of each year, Kids Link members’ parents have a pot-luck dinner, where they can talk about their children’s plans for the year. The parents are generally supportive, and some children attend Kids Link for many years. Some parents say that their children have become more respectful through being involved in Kids Link Fiji – they have learned about responsibilities as well as rights." Fiji
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Adults don’t want children to learn about their rights.
Some adults – including parents, other family members, teachers, and many others – sometimes think that children should not learn about their rights:
"When Kija on Tour ran the workshops about children’s rights, some schools and parents critizised them because they wanted to tell children about their duties instead of about their rights." Austria
"People fear that if children are taught about their rights, they will become disrespectful." Vanuatu
"Adults in many rural communities still believe that children must respect them and they sometimes think that children who speak out about their rights are rude." Kenya
What can we do?
”Save the Children try to... give clear information about children’s rights to help parents and children understand them better. They encourage round-table discussions in individual families, to allow children to say what in their family life they would like to change." Vanuatu
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Adults don't listen to children.
A very common problem which was that some adults, especially adults in positions of power who could change things for children, don’t want to hear children’s views:
"...adults think that children belong to their parents or carers and don’t want to hear their views. It is even harder for children in institutional care because they are seen as having to be ‘grateful’ for whatever they get from the adults. The organisations and staff running them generally think that children should just follow the rules and directions of adults because it is ‘for their good’, including corporal punishment." Indonesia
"It can... be difficult for children to participate because the government or politicians don’t respond to the things that children say." South Korea
"Lots of adults don’t understand the idea of children participating – they don’t take children seriously."Mongolia
What can we do?
Some adults may not think that what children have to say is worth hearing or responding to. But many children know better and, all over the world, they are speaking out and taking action for their rights."Many adults, including those working for the Ministry of Social Affairs in Indonesia could not believe that research could actually been carried out by children – it was important to show them that this was truly the products of children’s hard work and that children are actually very capable to carry out research and present and discuss issues that matter to them." Indonesia
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Adults who work with children interfere too much.
Even those adults who work with children on corporal punishment can also sometimes have problems in respecting them and taking them seriously. Some adults mentioned how important it was to make sure that children’s participation in actions was genuine – that they were really able to make decisions and do what they chose to do, not just do what adults said:
"It was... difficult at first for the adult facilitators to support children do their research without seeking to interfere or guide – adult facilitators before the research were used to being directive with children or acting as teachers rather than actually steppping back and letting children decide. They had to learn entirely new skills and ways of working." Indonesia
"Staff sometimes speak and feel as if they own the children – saying things like ‘my children’." Mongolia
What can we do?
Many people said that it would be much easier for children to participate if more adults knew about their right to participate and about how to help them. Some remarked that adults should work to change their own attitudes:"Sometimes adults don’t understand the idea of children participating. When staff leave and new ones are hired, they need to be trained in participation. Staff all need to be trained in the practice of child participation, not just the theory – they need to understand what it means in their own work… child participation is part of everybody’s job and it needs to be embedded in everybody’s work.
It’s easy for adults to find children who want to to participate! The problem is with adults, not with children. Adults need to change their ideas and realise that children’s participation is for everyday, not just for meetings. More staff and more training resources would make child participation easier." Laos
"Participation would be easier if there was a process or structure for involving children in work." Fiji
"If the government made an official rule or law that says that children have to be given the chance to participate, that would make it easier to run campaigns like this." VietnamPeople mentioned the importance of training for adults who work with children:
"Save the Children Sweden… are currently working on organising adult support groups, where adults can learn both to support children’s activities and to help them in cases of abuse. There are no workers in small villages, so it is important that the adults that live there learn to support the children there." Philippines
"It would be useful to share resources on how to help children stay motivated and how to facilitate children’s meetings." Fiji.See our resources section for some of these!
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Children don't know how to participate or don't want to.
Some adults said that lots of children want to take part in actions, while others said that not very many children were interested. Several of them said that children don’t know how to speak out about their rights:
"It can be difficult for children in Korea to participate, because they are not aware that they can do so or are not used to speaking out about what they think. So it can be hard for adults to find children who want to participate in actions!" South Korea
"Generally, children lack opportunities for meaningful engagement and need help to become empowered and learn how to speak out." Timor Leste
"A lack of knowledge about how to participate can make it hard for children to be involved in actions fighting for their rights..." Austria
Adults from two countries said that sometimes, children believe that corporal punishment is right and so they don't want to end it:
"Traditional Upbringing: children are loyal to their parents’ belief system. Children believe the popular discourse that smacking is acceptable.." Belgium
"...some children want corporal punishment and say it helps to discipline them. Some children think corporal punishment is a family issue." Hong Kong
What can we do?
Of course, children have the right to hold their own views and to choose whether or not they take action on their rights. But many of the adults who answered our questionnaire suggested that if children have the chance to learn about their rights, many of them will want to try to make sure that these rights are respected. Many people also commented that it would be easier for children to learn about their rights if there was a good general awareness of children’s rights in society as a whole:"Children’s participation needs to be seen as a priority to improve this situation in the future." Timor Leste
"...having a tight network of regional ombudsoffices and information centers would make it easier." Austria
"If children are educated about their rights and then given the opportunity to take action, they will do so. Then adults can stand back and provide support while children take action for themselves." VanuatuSeveral people suggested that schools could help children learn about their rights:
"Having a more open dialogue and public debate, about corporal punishment, and giving more information to young people in schools would make it easier for young people to participate." Belgium
"Schools could... make it a lot easier by passing on messages to children about their rights." Hong Kong
"Teachers should help children learn about their right to speak out under article 12 of the CRC, but they don’t want to. Teachers should be trained in child participation to help them do this." South KoreaIn some countries, projects (such as ’Kija on Tour’ in Austria) are underway to help schools tell children more about their rights.
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Children are scared to participate.
Children may want to take part in actions or speak out about their rights, but be too scared of other people's reactions. These other people could be their families, the community as a whole, and sometimes even other children:
"Children have a lot of respect for adults and they may be scared to say what they think." Vietnam
"Children are often assertive about their rights at school, but not at home." Papua New Guinea
"[Difficulties include] peer pressure, a macho culture, [and that] children fear their parents’ reaction." Belgium
"Policy makers, teachers, school administration, charitable institutions and even the justice system often do not have open channels of communication with children. This means that children are afraid of reporting incidences of violence in schools - they do not trust the adults they could tell. Children are not often able to prosecute the adults who should care for them but who abuse them and are violent towards them." Kenya
Even if children feel able to speak out, corporal punishment can still be a difficult and upsetting thing for them to talk about:
"...issues that may be "too close to home" can... make this kind of discussion difficult." Canada
What can we do?
Children always have the right to choose whether they talk about corporal punishment or take action. They are the experts on their own lives and they know about the risks they may face in speaking out. Their fears should always be respected. However, in some cases, adults may be able to make it easier for children to speak out if they choose to:"Adults need to make sure that they give children plenty of help to speak out." Vietnam
"It would be good if parents’ attitudes changed. It might be possible for newspapers to help with this." Papua New GuineaSeveral adults mentioned the importance of making sure that the environment where children talk about corporal punishment is friendly and safe:
"A friendly environment makes it easier for children to participate." China
"...holding the discussion in a safe environment with people the young people trust can make it easier." Canada
"When doing research on violence against children, it is very important to know if children are speaking about themselves as victims of violence or about the experiences of their friends. ARGE Jugend Gegen Gewalt’s feel that children and young people should only be asked to talk about violence in a safe and 'protected' situation. Also, it is very important that the children can be sure what will be done with the information they give." Austria
"Sometimes it was stressful for the children to deal with the difficult issues the report covered – social workers were always available and the children gave themselves plenty of fun time." Mongolia
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Discrimination.
People mentioned the difficulty of making sure that all children can take part in actions if they want to:
"It’s... important to deal with... issues that might affect children’s participation, such as gender." China
"One key barrier is gender discrimination and the inferior confidence that girls have." Tanzania
"For children from minority groups, language can be an issue, [and] it can be hard for disabled children to participate, because the infrastructure in Mongolia makes it hard for [physically] disabled people to move around." Mongolia
"Children from the countryside are often shyer and less confident than children from cities, so it is harder for them to speak out about what they think. Girls are also often shyer and less confident than boys." Vietnam
"Learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, etc...can make this kind of discussion difficult." Canada
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Practical problems.
Various practical problems were mentioned, including ones surrounding children's safety and privacy:
"It can be difficult to make sure that children’s privacy is protected and their names are hidden." China
"Sometimes there have been problems with making sure that children who are participating in activities are safe, for example when they are travelling to and from the Community Based Centres.
One time, a child spoke about school corporal punishment at a press conference. The media who were there reported the child’s school number. Her school didn’t like this – she got into trouble and had to move to another school. This is an example of a more general problem – that media professionals sometimes do not behave ethically, don’t take children seriously, and reveal details about their lives in the media." Mongolia
"Other problems faced by children wishing to participate in actions include the lack of resources for transport, communication support and accompanying young children..." Timor Leste
The cost of involving children in actions was occasionally mentioned as a problem:
"For EPOCH New Zealand the cost involved in talking to children about New Zealand's law change is a barrier." New Zealand
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