Natalie Hevener Kaufman

Estonian children's perceptions of rights:Implications for societies in transition

Analysis of social reform in the twentieth century has identified the scale and purposes of intervention into childhood. Children and childhood have become the object of massive interventions. Re-thinking children and re-thinking childhood is difficult. First, because there is a large and powerful body of knowledge on child development and socialisation. The sociology of childhood has begun to shift adult understandings of what it is to be a child, and how this varies across time and across societies. In this chapter the author reports on data from his recent study with nineyear-olds in London. He have been doing two things: discussing with them how they understand the social status of childhood, motherhood and fatherhood; and asking them to reflect on their daily lives. The 57 children were situated in two school classes, one from each of two schools. Keywords:Childhood; London; re-thinking children; socialisation

Civic Participation by Children and Youth

Few would question the idea that a healthy democracy requires citizens who are attentive, know how to participate in all levels of society, and actively engage in their communities. By these standards, many countries, including the United States, have reason to be concerned about the health of their democracies. Civic awareness among youth includes knowledge about the system but often only superficial understanding of how it works. In the area of civic and community values, majorities of students report respect for the rights of others, in a variety of settings, but students do not indicate an interest in participating in conventional political activities when they become adults. With regard to active community participation among youth (a good indicator of participation as an adult) most students do not report community engagement, and in some countries the percentage of youth who participate is at extremely low levels. Finally, in the area of opportunities for civic engagement, again students frequently report limited opportunities, and even those who do actively engage in community projects report feeling that they were not taken seriously and/or that their work was not valued by adults.

The Rationale for Measuring and Monitoring Children’s Well-Being

This volume is entirely devoted to the subject of measuring and monitoring children’s1 well-being. It is not intended primarily to be an academic or research venture, but rather to provide a tool for practitioners, professionals, and, in fact, anyone who works with and for children. We believe that such a tool is essential for any meaningful effort to promote the well-being of children. Initially, some four years ago, a small group of children’s advocates—practitioners and researchers—asked themselves the following question: if measuring and monitoring children’s well-being is so obviously important and has such positive potential, why do we still face numerous problems in developing and implementing the use of these valuable tools? Moreover, where such tools do exist, the practice of actual and consistent monitoring is rare.

Underlying Assumptions and Basic Guidelines for Measuring and Monitoring Children’s Well-Being

We began this volume by laying out our rationale for supporting efforts aimed at measuring and monitoring the well-being of children. We have also reviewed the efforts to date, addressing a wide variety of studies and reports, nationally and internationally, which reflect the very extensive agreement among governmental and nongovernmental organizations, scholars, and practitioners on the need to continue, and indeed to expand, these measuring and monitoring efforts. In this chapter, we provide an explanation of our basic assumptions, and explicate the general principles that have guided our research and recommendations.

How to Measure and Monitor Children’s Well-Being

The scope and innovative nature of the proposed domains and indicators of children’s well-being are in many ways both reasons for hope and reasons for despair. When looking at the list of proposed indicators in the previous chapter, it seems the most vital aspect of their acceptance and use is the existence of data, or at least the possibility of identifying sources of information and an adequate way to collect the data.

Five “New” Domains of Children’s Well-Being

In this chapter, we present the five domains of children’s well-being selected by our international study group. The chapter is divided into five sections. First we discuss the need for new domains; then, we turn to the question of why five domains rather than a single theoretical framework. hi the third section, we present the context we used for selecting those specific domains. Then, in the fourth section, we present the domains we selected. Finally, in the fifth section, we discuss some implications for choosing indicators within the domains.

Summary and Agenda for the Future

In the previous eight chapters, we have tried to convey a message, a message that measuring and monitoring children’s well-being is a feasible task. Furthermore, it is a vital task for anyone who wishes to positively affect children’s well-being.

Measuring and Monitoring Children’s Well-Being and the Making of Policy

By now it should be clear: we strongly, believe that any effort to measure and monitor children’s well-being is justified by its positive direct and indirect impact on children’s lives. Knowing for the sake of knowing, planning, and even monitoring is not enough. Measuring children’s wellbeing should be undertaken for the sake of improving the state of the child.

Possible Indicators of Children’s Well-Being

Any effort to monitor and measure children’s well-being is contingent on finding and using the right measures for the task. As a result of earlier work, it seemed appropriate to contribute to this ongoing effort by opening up new domains and concentrating on aspects of well-being beyond survival and positive development of children (see Chapters 3 & 4). Thus, in this chapter, we suggest lists of indicators as an addition to and not a replacement for existing domains and indicators of children’s well-being.

Existing Efforts around the World

After dealing in the previous chapter with the rationale for measuring and monitoring children’s well-being, in this chapter we explore the current efforts around the world. First, we describe the current field of indicators of children’s well-being. Second, we identify central themes and topics from various existing reports. Third, we describe a number of existing efforts around the world, while differentiating among them according to format and content.