●An Appeal from the Network for the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Children are not meant to be passively raised up, taught and guided by adults alone. They have the rights to think on their own, speak up and act accordingly.
Children cannot be left out from society. In fact, children are directly affected by the society created by adults. However, children’s right to expression is not accepted by the society due to the excuse of them being “merely children”.
Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) addresses “the right to expression”, which stipulates the right to express themselves freely in many cases. Based on this article, it implies that children can actively participate as society members and play a role in changing the future.
According to such viewpoint, the CRC guarantees that, as “the subject of rights”, children have various rights as members of society, such as freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of assembly.
Adults must not see children only as the subject to guide and educate, and only think of how to fit them well into today’s society. In fact, it is necessary to seek for the way to solve the problems in different areas such as in family, school, local areas, and nation.
Consequently, in order to protect our world which is confronting with “silent emergency” such as poverty, starvation, and environmental destruction, or war and dispute, adults and children must think and act together. The attitude of thinking about one’s own interests and leave problems to others must be questioned.
To make this happen, children and adults must communicate as equal human beings and deeply understand each other. In addition, to solve problems at global level, children around the world must overcome differences such as nationality, race and gender discrimination by exchanging broadly and seeking for solidarity.
One of the Network for the Convention on the Rights of the Child (NCRC)’s objectives is to play a role as a space for such exchange.
Accordingly, in order to integrate the CRC into the society, we must get its meaning and content across widely by making the information about the convention such as documents and literature accessible by anyone at any time. The NCRC, thus, wishes to play a role as a center for documents and information related to the CRC.
The Network supports personal standpoint and opinion of each person who admires the implementation and promotion of the CRC. Hereby, it calls for participation by everyone, including children.
November 17, 1991
Network for the Convention on the Rights of the Child