By Sharon Shevil, Children's Rights Centre: A consultative meeting was held at the Children’s Rights Centre, Durban, in November 2010, on the right of the very young child within care contexts to be included and to participate, according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.All children have the right to have their opinions heard and to be taken seriously. But the right of the child to participate is not just about “being heard” (Article 12 of the UN Convention).

It involves the right to express opinions, ideas and feelings. It includes the right to receive and impart information and ideas and share experiences (Article 13); the right to form one’s own opinion on matters (Article 14); the right of association (Article 15) and the right to access diverse and appropriate information (Article 17).

At the consultation, the general agreement was that perceptions and attitudes in relation to these rights were mediated to young children – to a greater or lesser extent – through the adults and family members in their care contexts. In this way participation rights come to reflect the various cultures in our society.

All children can participate! Children do not need to be verbal before they begin to communicate to their caregivers. Even babies express themselves through body language and signs, and caregivers need to be responsive to various ways of communication. Young children express their needs, feelings, interests and curiosity, opinions and ideas and these should be acknowledged and taken seriously.

The focus throughout the discussion in Durban was on participation as reciprocal relationships and communication between young children and their caregivers – in a care context that started before birth. This responsive care is the starting point for children to build their growing capacity for participation in the family, school, community and beyond. It was recognised that even very young children are active participants in their development, not just passive recipients of care and teaching. It was agreed that many adults still have a “deficit” view of childhood, with the child seen as inadequate, incapable, weak, needing protection and lacking “adult” capabilities. Adults tend to conclude that it would not be good for children to have the power to make decisions or to take control of their lives, or take on certain responsibilities, or face certain challenges (or perceived dangers). This, too, is a perception that is culturally informed and what is acceptable varies from culture to culture.

Care contexts as children grow and develop

Pre-birth: The health of mother and child, nutrition, and a stress-free pregnancy – with support from family and others - are important. There is new research into long term effects of pre-birth experiences, such as depression or stress in the mother, that show on later negative effects on the development of the child. There are also some pre-birth genetic effects and also environmental factors on the development of the brain. Attachment between mother and child starts before the baby is born – she should talk and sing to it!

Newborns: Attachment (“bonding”), between mother and her newborn baby is critical for the baby’s all round health and development. Mothers and babies need to have eye contact with each other (“gazing”) and mothers can learn from the “cues” the baby gives to express his or her feelings. This also encourages reciprocity with the “giving and receiving” of communication, even if it is non-verbal.

Children who have not built trust-relationships as babies are likely to be permanently disadvantaged. Social development – the ability to participate, to make friends, to be responsive and responsible towards others – is largely dependent on this sense of attachment.

1-12 months: At 4-10 weeks the baby starts smiling, socially, and to take the initiative in interaction with an adult. At 3 months the baby kicks, smiles and waves in response to attention or to attract attention. At 6 months the baby starts to play imitation games. 6-12 months the baby starts understanding the mother’s language, and about 12 months starts saying words. Receptive language ability precedes expressive language ability.

PARTICIPATION: Even the youngest child can express how he or she is feeling, and should be “heard” and responded to!

1-2 years: At this age children show independence and can be self assertive. It is the age of exploration. They often use their own jargon when talking, and babble to themselves. They can follow simple directions. They are action-oriented and “think with their feet”. They use 50-450 words.

PARTICIPATION: toddlers can express their views in many of the “100 languages of childhood”. (Reggio Emilia Schools) – by speaking, crying, smiling, pointing to objects and pictures, drawing , constructing and pulling things apart or breaking them down again, expressing feelings through movement to music, through showing avoidance and retreat behaviour, and so on. Their views should be appreciated and simple explanations given to them about the reasons why a decision is made.

3-4 years: This is a critical period for forming peer-relationships and having special-friends. They learn to play cooperatively, sharing and taking turns, and they show sympathy for others. Language and social development are closely linked and a child at 3 years uses 300-1000 words and at 4 can be generally understood by strangers.

PARTICIPATION: From about 3 years children can help make decisions. For example, through the use of concrete objects or pictures, they are even capable of distinguishing, what choice of toys would be best for “all the children” compared with “what I want.”

4-5 years: they have a sentence length of 4 -5 words and can use the past tense. They have a vocabulary of about 1500 words. From the “what?” questions of the 3 year old they progress to “why?” and “how?” questions and have an insatiable desire to explore, discover and understand. By 4 years children understand that pictures and models represent the real thing (fundamental to problem-solving).

5-6 years: They can generally cooperate in a group and share the attention of an adult. They are learning to manage conflict, and control their own emotions to some extent, through verbalising them or expressing them in other ways. At 6 they use about 8,000 – 14,000 words and they can draw a recognisable person and use art and drama to tell a story. The average 6 year old has a vocabulary of 10 000 words and can learn up to 20 new words a day. He/she can use all types of grammatical tenses and can understand nonsense rhymes and absurdity although they are still learning to differentiate between fantasy and reality.

PARTICIPATION: throughout early childhood children are beginning to see another person’s point of view (e.g. “peek-a-boo” game) and to be able to foresee consequences in concrete situations. By the age of 6 years they can make quite sophisticated decisions involving others.