Children’s advocate reacts to global kids survey

Who better to ask about the rights of children than children themselves?

That’s the approach adopted by the Christian Children’s Fund of Canada in their fifth annual “Small Voices, Big Dreams” survey, which comes on the 25th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Representing both developed and developing nations, 6,040 children between the ages of 10 and 12 from 44 different nations took part.

“Young people might see issues differently than we as adults do,” Saskatchewan’s advocate for children and youth Bob Pringle said, “so it’s important that we get a youth perspective on these issues here … anybody who’s affected by something is in the best position to say how they feel about it.”

The survey results, released Thursday, show that about one in five children worldwide say they aren’t being protected from physical or psychological abuse.

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Though Canada fares better when compared to Liberia or Ghana, about one in three kids surveyed still feel as though their right to protection isn’t being upheld most of the time.

“Well in Saskatchewan you know, two-thirds of First Nations children live in poverty,” Pringle said. “It doesn’t surprise me that a third of young people would feel that way.”

The survey also found that about half of Canadian children surveyed felt their voice was only sometimes heard. This is of particular interest to Pringle, who in his role as children’s advocate, tries to act as their voice.

“The feds just cut funding to velnerable First Nations families in Saskatchewan where there are children at risk. That’s exactly the wrong way to go,” he said. “I think the province is moving in the right direction, but given our demographics, they need the federal government to take more seriously the health and well-being of children.”

Pringle commended the provincial government initiatives like the anti-bullying strategy and the upcoming report into mental health and addictions.

As for the kids surveyed, asked what they would do to improve the lives of children in Canada, 22 per cent said they would improve technology and education quality, while 17 per cent said they would improve safety and security.

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