Involve Children in Your CRC Activities
The CRC itself gives children a right to be heard on matters affecting their lives. Children are naturally drawn to issues relating to their rights; the respect you show for their views will demonstrate that you care for those rights too. To get children involved, you can:
- Encourage your own children and their friends to participate, including in the planning of activities and why you're doing it.
- Contact the children's teachers and adult mentors about having children participate in an activity.
- If you want to generate news coverage for an event, be sure to have explicit permission from parents for any pictures of or quotations by their children.
- The Campaign has a Youth Advisory Council (in formation)
10 Points to Remember
- Many people are aware of the troubling status of US children and want to help, but they do not know how to get started.
- Parents, families and guardians are often viewed as the cause of and solution to issues concerning children.
- People have difficulty discerning the relationship between all US children and the future of the nation. They cannot connect issues affecting children to policies and programs.
- Messages incorporating key phrases, such as "invest in children", "investment in prevention", and "children are the leaders of tomorrow", resound with the general public.
- When discussing issues affecting individuals between 12 and 18 years of age, people respond more positively to the terms "youth" and "adolescents" than to "teens" and "teenagers."
- Negative news, urgent messages, and blaming politicians convey a sense of hopelessness. It is imperative to balance facts with solutions.
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child is an aspirational document and a critical tool. It is not a panacea.
- Implementation of the CRC has led governments to change and formulate laws, policies and programs to meet the specific needs of children in their country.
- The CRC is an instrument that benefits all children regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, ability, culture, religion, and socioeconomic status.
- With US endorsement of the CRC, the world would stand united in its universally shared goal to protect and promote children's best interests.
