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Seeing Beyond Violence: Main report text

18 Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de (2001) The Little Prince. Harvest Books.
19 UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) Article 12
1. States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to ex-
press those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due
weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.
2. For this purpose, the child shall in particular be provided the opportunity to be heard in any judicial
and administrative proceedings affecting the child, either directly, or through a representative or an
appropriate body, in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of national law. UNICEF:
http://www.unicef.org/crc/crc.htm
20 Hartwig-Hellstern, Frercks (1995) Kinderbürger- über die politische Beteiligung von Kindern.
Bonn: Kid- Verlag.

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Objectives and Methodology
14
tion of achievement and profit to a more unscrupulous degree if children and other mi-
nority groups are centrifugally removed to the fringes of society."(Stern, 129)21
The isolation of children in schools and families, their reconstruction as consumers22, their
alienation in society and the separation of the cycles of experience make it even more dif-
ficult to integrate children and young people.
"The spatial and temporal isolation of children was linked with the exclusion from co-
determination, self-determination and personal initiative. A lack of opportunity to ex-
press personal responsibility and the lack of a chance to participate make children appear
,incompetent' so that they cannot be expected to have aims and perspectives and thus
their interests must be represented by adults. Childhood became a ,curtain which is
drawn between reasonable people' (Illich 1973)." (Hartwig-Hellstern, 20)
,,Is the basic question possibly: are they only regarded as children because they are re-
garded as being children?" (Stern, 132)
The Application of Human Rights
Our project aim was to turn the telescope around and give children the chance to view
their own worlds, but this implied an extension of the limits of co-determination and so
became, in part a study of children's rights:
· The rights of children within their own spheres of social life as individuals and in
groups
· Their immediate rights, here and now, in practical and concrete decisions
· The right to be present when information and knowledge about them is being created
and made public.
Democracy is not a formal speech on special occasions but rather a question of `daily co-
determination'. If they are to be part of a democracy, children must be allowed the status
of `subject' and not restricted to that of `object':
"The conception of the subjectivity of children, which has long been mentioned in sci-
entific discussions, has not yet been realized at all. The Children's Rights Convention of
the United Nations (UN) of 1989 considers the rights of children to self-determine their
life structures and formulates for the first time a binding legal code of Human Rights for
Children, which, among other things, contains the right of participation and co-
determination." (Bründel/Hurrelmann, 40)23
Children as Fellow Citizens ­ an Attitude
Regarding children as fellow citizens demands a certain attitude towards working and liv-
ing together with children and young people. We believe that children and young people
should be more actively involved in society and should - to a greater degree - be the main
protagonists in their own personal lives. The aim should be to form a society in which
children have the confidence and the courage to attempt new challenges, children who are

21 Stern, Bertrand (1992) Sind Kinder auch Menschen? In: Schröder, Martin (Hg.): Kindheit- ein
Begriff wird mündig. Drachen- Verlag, Wolfratshausen
22 Kenway, Jane (2002) Consuming Children. Taylor and Francis, London
23 Bründel, Heidrun; Klaus Hurrelmann (1996) Einführung in die Kindheitsforschung. Beltz, Weinheim
und Basel

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