The UN Convention of the Rights of the Child — 30 Years On

The Children Act’s achievements and challenges

Last month marked the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Children Act of 1989. Since the enactment of the UN Convention on the Rights of Child, children’s livelihood and welfare worldwide have improved, given the reduction in the number of children missing primary school by 40 percent and a 99 per cent reduction of children affected by polio, a deadly infectious disease (1). In the UK, the Children Act of 1989 was passed to ensure the welfare and safeguarding of children. Accomplishments in this field are now evidenced by England maintaining one of the best child protection systems in the world (2). In addition to the global advancements in children’s quality of life, these two frameworks established children under the age of 18 as formal rights holders. 

In spite of unprecedented advancement of children’s rights, existing challenges remain, such as the unrealized rights of millions of children. In 2019, UNICEF reports that 30 years after the ratification of the Convention, “gaps in realizing those rights have widened among and within countries, indicating that progress has not only been uneven but often inequitable. In many regions, countries and communities, the poorest and most marginalized children are falling behind.” (3) Perhaps there is no better example to examine these challenges to the Convention in the UK than the issue of school exclusions. The policy of exclusion within the school system in England enables schools to exclude students due to their behavior within reasons of the law (4). Since the 2012-2013 academic year, the rate of school exclusions has risen substantially (5). Close to 6,700 students were permanently excluded in the 2015-2016 school year, which is the equivalent of 35 students being permanently expelled from school every day (6).

A 2012 report from the Children’s Commissioner, Dr Maggie Atkinson, highlighted the illegal use of exclusions by schools, confirming that the current system of exclusions is ultimately non-compliant with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (7).

The report also found biases in the profile of children that were more likely to be excluded over others, which were mostly “boys rather than girls; children with some types of special needs; children from specific ethnic backgrounds, and the children of the poor. In 2009-10, if you were a Black African-Caribbean boy with special needs and eligible for free school meals you were 168 times more likely to be permanently excluded from state-funded school than a White girl without special needs from a middle-class family.” (8) 

Restorative Justice as an alternative option

Against this background, the use of restorative justice principles and practices can be seen an alternative to this policy of exclusion. The study cites that in conjunction with counselling from a trained staff, restorative approaches can “both confront students with the consequences of their behaviors, and to demonstrate what things could be like if matters improve.” (9) This process would require students who have broken school policies to face the consequences of their actions directly. Rather than just having punishment being inflicted upon the student, which ultimately does not correlate to the offending behavior, restorative justice practices allow students to understand how their actions impacted others (10). One personal account from the 2012 inquiry speaks to the positive effects of this type of restorative approach, evidenced in a statement from a boy in Year 10 based in the North of England, who said, “’I had to sit down with this kid I’d kicked in, and he told me how much it had hurt, and how he didn’t know why I’d done it. It felt really weird, to be honest – when you lose it, you don’t think about this sort of thing.’” (11)  

Using restorative approaches to address breaches in school policy and misbehavior can also have positive long-term effects on the students themselves. Research suggests that punitive exclusions can be “linked to long-term mental health problems and future criminal behaviour — more than half of UK prisoners were excluded from school.” (12) Restorative approaches within the context of school exclusions can lead to opportunities of dialogue, where school administrators can have a better understanding of the conditions and background information that can potentially be the causes of students’ behaviors, especially within a growing trend of zero-tolerance policies within UK schools, where even the most minor types of breaches are punished. This data suggest that restorative approaches can play a role in breaking the school-to-prison pipeline and have an beneficial impact on students and society overall. 

Conclusions 

Thirty years after the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Children Act of 1989, the unrealized realities of children’s rights remain pervasive and continue to affect the most marginalized groups, leading to uneven progress and further inequality among those who are granted their rights and those who are not. It is clear that policies such as school exclusions contribute to this imbalance and must be addressed with less punitive actions and more alternative frameworks that encourages approaches like restorative dialogue.  

 By Amanda Blackhurst, intern at RJ4All