Abstract

Children and young people’s participation ¹ did not begin with the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child (UNCRC). Children and young people’s involvement in decision-making, within their families and communities, can be traced historically: from children and young people’s involvement within their household subsistence, to children’s school strikes in the early twentieth century, ² to a child’s right to refuse or consent to being adopted in Scotland. ³ But the UNCRC galvanised adults to recognise children and young people’s rights to participate, as part of a broader human rights agenda. This has encouraged changes in law, policy and practice to ensure children’s rights to be heard; advocacy has developed across different contexts, from education to child labour to juvenile justice; numerous projects have been initiated, to encourage children and young people ‘to have a say’ in their services, their communities and in policy-making.