youth voice

9th September 2024

Member of the NI Youth Assembly, Clodagh McKenna, discusses her recent participation in a CLC co-design workshop and outlines how children’s rights help guarantee equality in education.

Written by Clodagh McKenna

I am a member of the Northern Ireland Youth Assembly and I am passionate about making a positive change in young people’s lives. I felt inspired when the Youth Assembly recently met with young people from Children’s Law Centre, Angel Eyes, VOYPIC and Barnardo’s NI’s Syrian Youth Voices to aid the development of the education and Special Educational Needs sections of REE Rights Responder which offers free online legal advice to children and helps them understand what their rights are.

Children’s educational rights is a topic that is dear to me because I want to ensure that every child has access to a quality education. Unfortunately, education still remains an unattainable right for millions of children around the world. Almost 60 million children of primary education age are not in school. ^[1]This leads to adults not having the skills necessary to be able to improve both their living conditions of those and of their children, thus leaving the family to fall further into poverty and unable to escape this cycle.

Article 28 of the United Nations Convention in the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)^[2] says that “children and young people have the right to education no matter who they are: regardless of race, gender or disability; if they are in detention or if they are a refugee.” Children’s educational rights encompasses the right to access education that is free from discrimination, the right to be able to learn in an inclusive and safe environment and the right to receive a quality education that will help them equip the skills and knowledge that will prepare them for the challenges of the modern world. By being able to guarantee these rights, this can empower children to achieve their full potential, contribute meaningfully and create a difference in society. In time, this could help break the cycle of poverty and inequality.

Department of Education statistics show that in the academic year to June 2023, 96,000 pupils had chronic or severe chronic attendance issues. An additional 100,041 children were in the “at risk” category.^[3] The significance of education is a fundamental right that all children should have, as it lays the foundation for a child’s future successes, life and well-being. No child should ever miss out on an education, as it is the right of the child to receive an education. It is crucial to uphold children’s educational rights; ensuring all children regardless of their background, or circumstances that they face, are granted equal opportunities to learn and to grow.

By advocating for children’s educational rights, we can promote inclusive and equitable educational systems. This can develop a brighter future for every child so that all children can receive an education that they deserve.

Find out more about REE Rights Responder at reerights.com

References:

[1] Max Roser (2021) – “Access to basic education: almost 60 million children of primary school age are not in school” Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: https://ourworldindata.org/children-not-in-school

[2] Convention on the Rights of the Child | OHCHR

[3] Department of Education Circular 2023/11 – Attendance Guidance and Absence Recording by Schools­: https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/publications/attendance-guidance-absence-recording-by-schools-circular-202311

6th August 2024

In this blog, Eva Bradley, talks about why she is passionate about securing the vote for 16 and 17 year olds and her activism as part of Politics in Action.

Written by Eva Bradley

Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights explains that every citizen shall have the right and opportunity to vote in elections, which shall be by “universal and equal suffrage”. Lowering the voting age to 16 is the next logical step on the journey to making our democratic system more accessible and inclusive.

In the past number of years, many countries, including Austria, Brazil, Scotland and Wales have lowered the voting age to 16. This has sparked debate and conversation all over the UK about lowering the voting age, and about the participation of young people in our democracy.

As a 17 year old, I only missed out on being able to vote in this election by about eight months. However, despite not being able to vote, this didn’t stop me, or many other young people, from very closely following the election results.

For years now, I’ve been highly interested in politics and involved in youth activism, and I recently joined the Votes at 16 campaign group. I have always been very passionate about youth participation in democracy and specifically the right to vote at the age of 16. There are so many reasons why, but one of the main ones for me was that at 16 you can work and be taxed. If you are paying into the system, you should always have the right to vote.

Something I often hear from people who are opposed to lowering the voting age is that 16 and 17 year olds are too immature and aren’t educated enough to vote. While it is true that here in Northern Ireland our political education isn’t great, our campaign is also advocating for better political education in our curriculum. Giving our young people the right to vote would be a crucial aspect of political education. They can go from learning about politics at school to actively participating in our electoral democracy. Many young people aged 16 and 17 are already highly politically engaged. A lot are very political without even realising it!

Lowering the voting age to 16 has so many benefits. There has been evidence from Scotland, where the voting age was lowered to 16 in 2013, that 16 and 17 year olds there who started voting at this young age were likely to continue voting throughout their life. Many experts believe this makes a great case for lowering the voting age to 16 everywhere.

In 2014, 75% of 16 and 17 year olds voted in the independence referendum in Scotland, and 95% of them said they’d vote again.

Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises a young person’s right to express their 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”. Being able to vote from age 16 would ensure that politicians take us young people seriously in the matters that affect us, giving  us a say on issues that will impact our present and future – particularly when it comes to the climate crisis. As young people, we will have to live with the consequences if we don’t take action now.

Having the right to vote will help give young people the democratic voice they deserve. In election campaigning, many parties, including Labour, now the biggest in Parliament, had a commitment to lowering the voting age in their manifestos. I sincerely hope that we see some action on this soon.

You can read more about the Politics in Action Votes at 16 campaign, and sign the petition, at https://www.politicsinaction.org/campaigns/votes-at-16