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Angela S. Bushati
while they are children and continues till they reach the so called “phase of adulthood”.
Before reaching this time, parents or adults are mainly those who take these decisions for
them. This kind of approach can lead to neglecting the opinions of young people as well
as how they perceive their reality.
The particular conditions, in which children live, especially in the public sector, are not tak-
en into consideration, and this makes it impossible for their rights to be fulfilled” (Liebel,
2007: 59). Without children’s participation everything depends on adults decisions. Since
these decisions concern the children’s interests and needs the first who should worry
and take part in the decision making should be the children themselves. Furthermore,
through participation people achieve their freedom of expression, and it also permits
them to express their opinion openly without hesitation or concern. During the process
of participation children gain experience, knowledge and self-involvement in the social
world. Everyone should have the chance of expression and involvement with others. The
opinions of young people should be taken under consideration when it comes to decision
making for the improvement of the conditions that have to do with the environment or
their personal lives.
There is often the idea that if you allow children to participate, adults will not be able
to control them anymore. Permitting the child or adolescents to express himself/herself
does not mean that the child will be deciding on everything and respectively leading to
the loss of adult power. It is important that young people as well as children participate
in the process of decision making and the decisions are taken in cooperation between
the child and the parent. During the last few decades, a lot of schools have started to
implement children’s participation through school councils and teachers try to bring in-
formation, also in accordance with the school curriculum, regarding children’s rights and
youth rights in general. There is a general acknowledgement that participation helps in
terms of development, but nevertheless, a lot of schools, media or the society in general
lacks a deeper understanding of the right to participation. Nowadays, still many parents
and adults in general do not give enough attention and space to the needs or opinions of
young people and rather do what they think it is best for them.
The right to participation is a fundamental part of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child (CRC) (1989) and the UN in general, and stands at the core of human rights fulfill-
ment, and as such, it requires a bigger emphasis and also a bigger commitment in order
that a significant change takes place in terms of promoting youth agency and participa-
tion in decision making. Allowing children to participate is the first step to contributing
to a general culture that promotes participation of all individuals in all phases of life, and
such “participation rituals” should continue during youth as well. “It was for this rea-
