These days, children are being ‘consulted’ more and more. The government has just started to hear them out on the role of the Commissioner for Children. The Maltese Church has a commission made up mainly of children that was established a few years ago to seek their views on subjects that concern them.
Schools are increasingly getting children to appoint their own little councils to encourage them make their voices heard. And in the ultimate form of consultation, 16-year-olds are about to get a vote in local council elections.
It is a sign of the times. The application of democratic values has over the years grown both in breadth and in depth: geographically across the globe and in the way civil society is increasingly being given a say in decision-making. It is a natural progression that children too should be listened to in the formulation of polices that affect them, whether by a government, a church or a school.
It may be tempting to pooh-pooh this new trend and perhaps deride it as another example of political correctness gone over the top. But there are several reasons why it is right and proper for children to become an intrinsic part of the democratic process in accordance with their age and maturity.
First of all, it plugs gaps in information. A policy or decision affecting children that does not try to understand them better is based on incomplete information so cannot be as effective as it might be.
Secondly, the right of children to express their views and have them taken seriously is enshrined in the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. As with many other rights, countries tend to put them into practice rather belatedly.
Thirdly, the perception that children are not competent to express relevant views is slowly changing to a recognition that they have a real contribution to make.
Besides, children of any age are, in general, probably more thoughtful and able to articulate their thoughts than they ever were. This is thanks in part to the higher academic expectations that we have of them, a changing approach to teaching that encourages a more active participation in the classroom, and parents who on average have attained a higher level of education than in the past.
In the tailor-made exercise of being consulted, such as in the way they are being engaged in discussion on the role of the Commissioner, children learn to express, to challenge and to propose. This gives birth to future participants and policymakers more likely to respect others’ opinions because their first taste of such a process was in an atmosphere of respect for their own views. The future of democracy can only stand on a more solid ground as a result.
A couple of notes of caution. Children should not be humoured. The consultation must be real.
It is one thing for adults to be duped when they think they have been listened to only to be faced with a fait accompli. Although still unacceptable, at least they have the capacity to see through it if they use their brains. But it would be unforgivably cynical to take gullible children for a ride in a show of consultation only intended to pay lip service to the principle.
Secondly, the process must be devoid of any attempt to take political advantage of them or to ‘indoctrinate’ them in any way, much less in any political party direction. Let not politics as we know it today be allowed to taint their innocent minds.