Emma Bird Essay

Submitted By Louk2002
Words: 2090
Pages: 9

When looking at children’s rights we must first look at where they come from, drawing on areas which illustrate different developments, polices and the reasons why they exist. To do this effectively we must first look at the rights of a child and how in turn those rights affect different areas of a childs life, areas such as school life.
Through looking at polices, initiatives and procedures and their importance within a childs life particularly during schooling and in home life, we will take a take a deeper look at how the rights of a child can influence children’s services.
It is also highly important to look at how the rights of a child can affect relationships within the family life and discover ways in which family life and the rights of a child are supported by political and legal systems in the UK.

A broad range of children and family practitioners can benefit from gaining knowledge on law and policy that shapes practice,(Isles 2008).

It is known that human rights are fundamental rights to which every human being is entitled to regardless of age, race or location in the world. These rights include individual, political, civil, spiritual, social, economic and cultural rights.
Every child in the UK is entitled to basic human rights. These are designed to guarantee that each child has the best start in life. Since 1948 The United Nation's Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has applied to all children and young people aged 17 and under.
The UNCRC Convention consists of 54 articles concerning social, economic, cultural or civil and political rights of children. They also detail how governments must utilize the Convention. The UNCRC protects children's rights by setting standards in health care education and legal, civil and social services.

Built on varied legal systems and cultural traditions, the Convention is a universally agreed set of non-negotiable standards and obligations.
Direct Gov (2012)

During day-to-day contact adults in working situations, relate to children and young people in many different roles and contexts. Commissioners, assessors,teachers and early years practitioners are just some from a wide range of professionals that work with young people.
Looking at these relationships, it is important to examine how we engage with children through services available and how initiatives in schools can be delivered to achieve results in promoting a rights based lifestyle for young people.

Concerning laws and policies in force within the UK. Isles (2008) comments on how services and supports available derive from laws and policy, for example : The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the UK’s Human Rights Act 1990 (HRA),are amongst some of the most dominant, these policy’s and laws have an impact on our day to day living and throughout the entirety of our lives.

Having addressed the outline of why we have rights and looked at the ethics on which they are built upon it is now necessary to look at how they affect the way in which these rights may influence children’s lives via support, services and initiatives.
Isles describes the circumstances in which children and families live today as “Exceedingly diverse”. He also mentions that a range of assessments, supports, resources and services available must meet the needs of 'real life' situations as they are complex in relation to law.

There is little doubt that there are a multitude of real life situations children come up against in today’s society that involve their 'rights'. This raises the question, how can children's services deliver, implement and meet the needs of children today.
There are services available and initiatives in progress that are designed specifically for children and young people, in terms of upholding rights and looking after their well being however these services and initiatives are designed and set out to influence