International Institute for Child Rights and Development

An established body of multi-disciplinary evidence demonstrates that children and young people's lived experiences and spheres of influence are fundamental to their wellbeing and realisation of rights, with adversity suggested to have significant and long-term consequences. For the past two decades the Scottish Government has responded with a sustained strategic commitment to children and preventive policy measures. Only recently have Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) assumed a prominent role in this context. A corresponding policy development in Scotland has been on children's rights, with significant steps taken towards implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). This has involved a focus on incorporation, with the tag line ‘making rights real’. By analysing key literature and policy documents, this article considers the extent and shape of the interconnections between these policy areas. Informed by Carol Bacchi's problem representation framework, we identify evidence of conceptual pairing. However, deep engagement in children's rights appears to be lacking, as is children and young people's active role in national ACE-policy review and development.

This chapter explores meanings of religion and the spiritual for the child and the human condition; associated relevance of and imperatives for child rights, development, functioning, and well-being; and the ways various and diverse school communities can respect and promote the child’s right to a spiritual life, assisted by school psychology.

This chapter provides an overview and conclusions for the handbook. Readers are reminded that child rights advocacy can be accomplished through the work of professional organizations at international and national levels, as well as individual school and educational psychologists, as they engage in research, practice, training, and policy at the local level. Reflecting the words of Malala Yousafzia (I am Malala. Little Brown, New York, NY, 2013), the authors remind school psychologists of their key role as a “mesosystem” for promoting and protecting child rights through their connections with key stakeholders (e.g., parents, teachers, community members, and children themselves) across the child’s ecological systems.

This study examines youth-led decision making (YLDM) among groups of youth who are providers or recipients of community development grants. Focus groups, interviews, and participant observation with 14- to 20-year-olds and supporting adults showed youth have a preference for consensus-based decisions. Youth used due process to reach decisions while valuing differing viewpoints. Adults created appropriate spaces and guided without controlling. Youth directly involved in the YLDM process experienced the greatest and most immediate benefit though other youth, and the community as a whole also felt positive impacts over time. The study considers the type of supports required for young people to make meaningful decisions and points to the capacity of youth, and the potential of YLDM, for community development.

This article examines the nature of early adolescents' environmental involvement based on a study with 10–13‐year‐olds. Drawing from literal and metaphorical interviews, a visual survey and visual maps, the study points to the dimensions of environmental involvement: connectedness, engagement with the environment, questioning, belief in capacity, taking a stance and strategic action. Children's agency runs across the dimensions, as children intentionally and strategically figure their way through significant life influences, beliefs towards nature and age‐defined barriers. Of interest is what the sources of environmental involvement are, as well as how a child interacts and engages in situations and with resources at hand. Along with awakening to the natural environment, children are discovering themselves and carving a place in the world.