Address for the Launch of the Australian National University’s Research Project on Children and Communities in Australia
Children's Rights
Address for the Launch of the Australian National University’s Research Project on Children and Communities in Australia
Megan Mitchell
National Children’s Commissioner
Australian Human Rights Commission
International Symposium on Children and Communities in Australia
Australian National University
Thursday 13 March 2014
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Thank you, Anne, for the kind introduction.
I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land we meet on today.
It is on their ancestral lands that the Australian National University is built, and I would like to pay my respects to elders, past and present. I also acknowledge other Aboriginal people here today.
I’d like to start by sharing some words of wisdom imparted to me by 18 year old Christine Gardner, a young roving reporter who travelled with me during my national listening tour last year.
Christine expressed to me her desire for every child to go to school, get an education, and to understand the importance of positive participation in the community.
When deliberating on why this doesn’t always happen, Christine explained:
“Young people don’t always feel that they are being listened to by adults. Sometimes, we just aren’t taken seriously - it seems like what we think doesn’t matter. I believe some adults don’t understand us, or know what’s best.”
Christine touched on one of the very reasons why research projects such as the one I am proud to help launch today are so important: Understanding, listening to, and valuing the views of our children and young people, is crucial to ensuring they can realise their rights and be active participants in society.
Putting the Pieces in Place: Children, Communities and Social Capital in Australia is the product of five years of work by Sharon Bessell, Jan Mason, and their research team – three years of which, as I understand, involved participatory, rights-based research with 108 children aged 8-12 years, in six different areas across Eastern Australia.
Congratulations to Sharon, Jan, and all of the team on the journey you have been on and on the outcome of this important research.
Thank you too to all the schools and organisations that played a role in funding and supporting this research. But most of all, thank you to the children who so generously shared their ideas, opinions and stories. It is their insights that allow us to leave today’s symposium with a deeper understanding about what makes a strong, supportive community for our children.
National Children’s Commissioner
Promoting respect for the human rights of children in Australia, and working in their best interests, is fundamental to my role as National Children’s Commissioner.
The overarching framework for what I do is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which defines all children, like adults, as rights holders, with special rights as children. Australia signed on to this Convention over 23 years ago, and in doing this has promised to protect and promote the rights of children.
Part of this promise involves hearing the voices of children. Article 12 of the Convention gives to every child the right to have a say, the right to have their views taken into account, and the right for those views to be treated seriously.
As many of you would be aware, I started this job almost one year ago and my first priority was to hear from children and young people themselves about what is important to them, what worries them and how I might help to make their lives better.
To do this I conducted a national listening tour, which I called the Big Banter.
Through the Banter, I met face-to-face with well over 1,000 children, and I heard from a further 1,000 plus children online and through the post. I’ve also heard from hundreds of children’s advocates across the country.
Children raised many different issues and ideas with me, and I’d like to share some of these with you. In the face to face workshops I conducted, I asked children and young people to think about their ideal world, and what rights and rules they would like to have.
The Canberra College, ACT
Young people at the Canberra College said they wanted to live in a world where:
People have respect for each other;
Children and young people are heard;
There is freedom from judgement, so people can be who they want to be;
Everyone is treated as intelligent individuals; and where
People who you trust make you safe.
Fitzroy Crossing Primary School, WA
Children at Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia told me that they would like a world with:
No swearing;
No bad people;
No pollution;
No drugs; and
Where you can go to school every day.
Northfield OSHC, SA
Children at an out of school hours care centre in South Australia said they wanted to live in a world where:
Everyone was safe;
There were no guns;
Everyone had a place to live; and
There was a peace code so that everyone speaks kindly and is a peace maker.
Reiby Juvenile Justice Centre
Young people at Reiby Juvenile Justice Centre in NSW said the most important things to them included:
Friends, relationships, family;
To be respected, give respect;
Good food and be healthy;
To have more guidance;
The right to speak to God;
More football fields and parks;
Everyone being treated as equals; and
To be able to vote from the age of 16+.
Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, VIC
Children and young people at the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency said that the things that were most important to them included:
No bullying;
No racism;
More Aboriginal activities;
More Aboriginal young people on television shows and in magazines;
Fair treatment;
To be comfortable in your own home;
To live in a safe world and environment; and
To have a good future.
Goulburn Street Primary School, TAS
Children at Goulburn Street Primary School in Tasmania told me that life would be better if there was:
No discrimination;
Reduced costs;
No pollution or smoking; and
Everybody was treated equally.
They also wanted a world with:
No adults;
Rivers of gooey caramel; and
Flying hobbits.
Postcards from Children and Young People
Children and young people also sent postcards to me during the Big Banter, to let me know what would make life better for children and young people in Australia. This slide contains a summary of what children and young people said.
Here are some individual examples as well:
“If we all felt safe in a house with a mum and a dad.”
(5 year old boy)
“My cousins and friends because they like to play with me.”
(5 year old girl)
“More trees and more fun and more parks and more slides and more places for kids.”
(7 year old boy)
“More family time. Mum explained that Sundays used to be a quiet day with no shops open or sport played. Maybe we need a national family day.”
(10 year old girl)
“With school fees and fees for camps or swimming lessons or other school activities, with one child it’s not too costly, yet with a family of four kids or three it can be quite a lot of money. So if it was cheaper for the second or even fourth child, more kids wouldn’t miss out on fun school activities.”
(11 year old girl)
“You could play in the streets and local parks like our parents did but I don’t think it’s as safe as it used to be... I live in a long street with up to 30 families but the street traffic is too dangerous for us to be on our own and cross roads.”
(10 year old girl)
Online survey responses from children and young people
Children and young people completing the online survey were asked: What makes you most happy. This slide contains some of their answers.
They were also asked if they were ever treated unfairly. Here are just a few individual responses:
“Sometimes I am treated unfairly at school by being bullied about my appearance”, girl 12;
“I was judged unfairly by my teacher”, boy 11;
“People treat kids ...like we know nothing”, girl 17;
“My parents tell me to shut up...as if what I have to say isn’t worth their time and I am just an extra problem in their lives, I...try not to let it get to me but sometimes it does and makes me feel worthless...”, girl 16; and
“I was treated very badly at school. I was hit and dragged by teachers because I hid under tables and rocked...I was only nine”, boy 14.
As you can see, across the country, children and young people have consistently said the most important things to them were to be with family and friends and to be safe. Issues that most concerned them were violence, drugs, alcohol and smoking. Many children and young people were worried that some children lived in families where they could not afford to have the things they would like to have. They want more things to be available for free and services for children to be easier to access.
Children enjoy their freedoms and they enjoy being able to play, be active and have fun, but they also appreciate fair boundaries and rules.
And children and young people definitely want to have a say and be active participants in their lives and in their communities. They want people to show more respect for one another, and they want to be respected and listened to. No matter where they come from or what their background, children are hopeful and aspirational about their futures.
Links to ANU Research
The ideas expressed to me by children throughout the Banter share strong similarities to the findings of the report we are here to celebrate today.
These findings have been structured around the concept of a ‘community jigsaw’ of children’s priorities about what makes a happy and supportive community. The research shows the most important pieces of that puzzle for children are:
- - The importance of relationships;
- - The desire for safety;
- - Physical places, including a home and inclusive spaces; and
- - Resources.
ANU Research: Positives and Negatives
This research provides a strong platform from which to improve the experiences of both Australian adults and children. However, it also identifies some alarming findings, including that:
- - The majority of the children who participated in the research said they had been treated rudely, dismissively, or in a hostile manner by adults;
- - Many children spoke of being disconnected from adults in their communities;
- - Many indicated a lack of adequate time being spent with parents; and
- - Many children did not feel safe, especially those from more disadvantaged backgrounds.
Research on the ‘Middle Years’
This information is disturbing, particularly when we consider the age range of the children who took part in this research (8-12 years) and what we know about the developmental needs of children who fall within the age bracket known as the ‘middle years’.
And, as we know, during this period the body and the brain are maturing at rapid rates.
This period of childhood as a time of life characterised by:
- - A change from primary to secondary school;
- - Increased autonomy and reducing parental oversight;
- - Increased importance of peer relationships; and where
- - Children seek to establish their personal and social identities.
Research indicates that the middle years are not only a period of heightened risk for children, but also a period where positive experiences and interventions can help to offset any effects of difficulties faced by children earlier in their lives.[1]
At the same time, neuro-imaging research shows that the developing brain is particularly vulnerable to stress at this time which can lead to abnormal pruning and inhibition of growth of brain cells.
Traumatic experiences can dramatically impact the development of neural pathways in the early years, which are part of healthy brain development.
In this context the family and wider community in which the child is located and the support and sense of belonging a child has is critical for their healthy development.
The Importance of Community for Child Development
The correlation between strong communities and family and child well-being is also supported by a growing body of research.
The characteristics of neighbourhoods in which children live have been related to:
- - Children’s cognitive development and educational achievement;
- - Propensity for risk-taking behaviours;
- - Teenage childbearing;
- - Emotional and psychological well-being;
- - Physical health; and
- - Social-emotional and learning outcomes.[2]
Conclusion
The research we are acknowledging today highlights this important connection between strong neighbourhoods and child well-being, and provides a positive platform for the voices of Australia’s children to be heard and taken seriously.
I’d like to again congratulate Sharon, Jan and the research team for their efforts, and I sincerely hope that as adults we hear what children have told us, and apply their collective wisdom to the development of more child-inclusive communities.
As one girl, aged 10, who took part in the research (and most likely gave birth to the report’s title) said: “a community is like a puzzle: you need to have all the pieces in place to make it work.”
Thank you. And I now have the honour of officially launching the report, Putting the Pieces in Place: Children, Communities and Social Capital in Australia.
[1] Department for Communities (2012), ‘Middle Years Strategic Directions for 2012-2014’, Government of Western Australia.
[2] Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Occasional Paper No. 25 2009, ‘Stronger Families in Australia Study: The Impact of Communities for Children’.
