Kids Speaking Up for Kids: Advocacy by Children, for Children

Childhood Education Volume 83, No.4, P. 199

Eva Zygmunt-Fillwalk and Lynn Staley, with Rashmi Kumar, Cecilia Lingfen Lin, Catherine Moore, Manana Salakaya, and Tunde Szecsi
Eva Zygmunt-Fillwalk is Assistant Professor and Lynn Staley is Professor, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. Rashmi Kumar is 5th-grade teacher, Avon Grove Intermediate School, West Grove, Pennsylvania. Cecilia Lingfen Lin is Assistant Professor, Ming Hsin University of Science and Technology, Taiwan. Catherine Moore represents the International Tapori Children's Network, Landover, Maryland. Manana Salakaya is Director, Magic World Kindergarten with UNESCO Assistance, Moscow, Russia. Tunde Szecsi is Assistant Professor, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers.


In the spring of 2005, after the Public Affairs Committee Special Session "And How Are the Children?" at the ACEI Annual Conference and Exhibition, we sat back and reflected. We were daunted by global inequity, by the plight of our youngest world citizens, and by a lack of opportunity for children to meaningfully participate in altering these tides. We realized that it was imperative to profile the potential of children to effect change. Thus, the project "Kids Speaking Up for Kids: Advocacy by Children, for Children" was born.

The project was simple in scope. We sought to collect stories of child advocacy-ways in which children were working on behalf of other children. We also sought to collect and profile children's voices and vision and so we issued a "call for voices of children." Children were asked to respond to the following questions:



Children's Voices
Although we cannot possibly include the responses from all of the children who responded, a representative sampling shows the breadth and depth of the response. Children from the United States, Russia, Hungary, Taiwan, England, France, Israel, India, South Africa, and Australia, from preschool to adolescence, responded to our call and poignantly expressed their views regarding societal inequity and their potential role in contributing to change. With few exceptions, the children's expressions, regardless of language spoken or country of origin, could be categorized according to the common themes of: What Children Need, What Children Believe They Can Do, and Children's Pleas to Adults.

What Children Need
Children need water to live. Children need a mum and dad. Children need food. They need to be safe. They need money. Children need sleep. Children need a home.
—8-year-old English child

Children need to be able to play even if they are lacking many things. Children love to play.
-Tapori child

Children need a family, and I wish that no one would get sick, and nobody would ever hurt anyone.
—5-year-old Israeli child

Children need to have a loving family who will look after them . . . they need a home to keep them dry, warm, and safe.
—10-year-old English child

Children need playgrounds and clothes.
-6-year-old Russian child

Children need to stay strong, hand in hand. We need to demand respect, the right to peace, friendship, and the right to have normal lives.
—Tapori child

Children need proper teachers so that when they are adults, they can get a good job to earn money to raise the family.
—8-year-old English child

All children should have the same chances. One thing that everyone absolutely deserves is to be protected. This is what makes love possible, and gives the hope and the courage to continue.
—Tapori child

What Children Believe They Can Do
I think I can make a difference. Sometimes children are excluded and marginalized. I talk to them as I talk to everybody, and I treat them as I treat everybody.
—Hungarian youth-year-old

There are bad people in the world, and some children know them, and they may tell those children who don't know about it, and those kids won't come up to the bad people.
—5-year-old Russian child

If I know a student with special needs, I will help her study.
—4th-grade Taiwan student

When someone cries, another child can comfort him or her.
—5-year-old Israeli child

If there happens an earthquake, and a child loses something, clothes, for example, I can give him mine.
—5-year-old Russian child

I would help special needs student to push wheelchair and help him get books on the higher shelf in library.
—4th-grade Taiwan student

I can become president.
—6-year-old Russian child

I can save my allowance to give to orphanage.
—Kindergartner from Taiwan

Children can donate things for needy families. However, I do not think we can provide a life-changing help. It is the state/government that should provide help for families to enable them to live a normal life. —Hungarian youth

Children's Pleas to Adults
No more violence! We need to do all we can to protect peace in the family and in the world. Most importantly, no more selling guns! Children want to live in peace. —Tapori child

I wish that there won't be war, ever.
—5-year-old Russian child

Leaders, it is time that you used your wealth to help the less fortunate countries. It is time that you used your wealth to bring peace and stability in the world and not to wage wars and contradict your responsibilities.
—Indian youth

I really think we should emphasize the right to play, not just study all the time.
—4th-grade Taiwan student

Listen to the youth in your countries! So many youth out there want to make their countries better, not for themselves, but for the other people. Youth want to be heard because we see things differently from the adults.
—Australian youth

If adults want to help children, first they need to carefully listen to what children need. They should ask for children's opinion before they can help.
—Hungarian youth

If everyone could convince people to believe in the new generation, the world would be a better place. Please, adults, you must help us make this happen.
—Tapori child

Child Advocacy Projects
In response to our request for children's voices, we also received inspiring examples of advocacy work being done by children around the world. The following five projects demonstrate the potential of children to effect real and lasting change, and demonstrate the power of children's participation.

Project: You Help, You Care: Actions Demonstrate the Strength of One's Commitment
School: Avon Grove Intermediate, West Grove, Pennsylvania
Teacher: Rashmi Kumar

I teach in a school where newly arrived immigrant families comprise a significant section of the school population. Many of these students and families are just beginning to learn the English language; hence, they sometimes are perceived to have low levels of knowledge and comprehension. Often, my colleagues and I would observe that because of the language barriers, the non-English-speaking students and their families were alienated from the rest of the school population.

In response to our growing concerns, we initiated a project-"Sharing Cultural Knowledge Through Visual Arts"-that aimed to build acceptance and appreciation of non-English-speaking students and families, to make them feel welcome, and to help them share knowledge and enhance their own learning. Visual arts, which are universally understood, were used to share and demonstrate the knowledge, emotions, and cultural experiences of everyone in our school community.

After experiencing this new and increased understanding, my students voted for a call of action to keep the momentum going. Through a process of deliberation and reflection, the students decided to collect and implement all their individual ideas under a group endeavor called "You Help, You Care." The title expressed the feeling that actions demonstrate the strength of one's commitment.

Some of the initiatives implemented/suggested by the students included:
  1. Designating "welcome ambassadors" to greet new students and families-to provide emotional support through a caring peer who can act as a knowledgeable guide and ease the transition in the first few days and weeks of school.
  2. Labeling key sections of the school in different languages.
  3. Creating easy-to-read manuals, which include illustrations, in different languages (e.g., "How to select from the cafeteria menu" and "How to request a bus pass"). It seemed to the students that everyday routines, while meaningful, were the most evasive to comprehend because there was no "class" or formal introduction to them. Therefore, the students decided to create small brochures that were written in different languages and used universally recognized symbols. These, they envisioned, could be made available in commonly visited places or even be included with the welcome packages that were given to students and their families.
  4. Making deliberate efforts to sit with non-English-speaking children in the cafeteria and play with them at recess, despite language differences. "After all, everyone can kick a ball," one student commented. Another student wrote, "This will definitely let the new student know that children in the school want to be friends, even though they do not know how to say it. Staying close will be better than staying apart."
  5. Including the holidays, games, and foods of different cultures as a regular part of the school routine, rather than just on sporadic days/events.
  6. Changing the options in physical education classes to include games that are popular elsewhere.
  7. Asking the "new" students to share prior schooling/educational experiences from their community/school and making it part of our school experiences. A great number of students commented that newcomers often have great memories of their previous schools/neighborhoods and allowing those memories to be shared would give everyone a chance to learn something new, perhaps even create new traditions, and allow the newcomers to extend their fond memories. The message that the students wanted to spread was: "Please share with us what you cherish and remember, and we will share your pride and your memories in carrying on some of the traditions."
Creating these deliberate opportunities to interact with the students in this advocacy project was a journey of pride as well as discovery. Through participation in this thought-provoking and emotionally invigorating process, I gained a greater understanding about the remarkable thought-processing mechanisms of 10- to 12-year-olds. Simultaneously, I was touched by the strength of my students' commitment and resolve, as well as impressed by the depth of their empathy for fellow students.

Project: Auction of Children's Artwork for Charity
School: Magic World Kindergarten with UNESCO Assistance - Moscow, Russia
Principal: Manana Salakaya

We were asking our children the questions you sent us; looking into their eyes, we saw that they understood everything. They were aware of the fact that some children have no place to live and no access to clean water, food, or medical services. Theoretically, our students understand that all this deprivation exists and we must fight it.

When we started our charitable activities, different opinions emerged about what we were doing. Some of our parents said that children should not be exposed to other children's poverty, but we disagreed. We are sure we were right in thinking differently.

Today, we are proud as we look at our children; they understand that they should live in a different world-in an improved one. It's everyone's mission to improve the world. From early childhood, our children should know that "charity" is not just a word-it is the soul's state-and that it is not necessary to be a millionaire to do something pleasant for others and receive pleasure from doing this.

In response, our children create the most interesting works of art, which are then exhibited at our annual charitable auctions. All the profits from the auctions are then donated to Moscow orphanages. The children living in the orphanages always come to see our children's performances dedicated to the auction. These orphans need love and help; when they communicate with us, we understand that children from all over the world, no matter where they grow up, deserve love and compassion. The misfortunes happening in the world are directly related to each of us, and we must explain to our children that our main goal is to have mutual understanding, support, and love for each other.

Project: Publishing Children's Voices for Charity
School: Belvarosi Altalanos Iskola, Jaszbereny - Jaszbereny, Hungary
Teacher: Csomorne Csibor Ildiko
Interviews by: Miklosne Kis Ildiko, Saint Stephen University at Jaszbereny
Translated by: Tunde Szecsi, Florida Gulf Coast University

This project, titled "Kids Speaking Up for Kids: Advocacy for Children," provided children in a middle-sized Hungarian town with an opportunity for letting people worldwide know about their thoughts and ideas. After translating the recommended questions into Hungarian, I contacted my colleague, a professor in Hungary, and asked her to interview children. Interviews with 20 participants, 13- to 14-year-old children, were audiotaped and transcribed. In addition, the children expressed their thoughts, joys, and concerns in drawings.

In the process of the interviews and the follow-up conversations with children and their teacher, we recognized an emerging awareness about the power of words. Both the children and adults believed that these words must be shared with other children and adults. The children offered an outstanding idea for how to do so. They volunteered to design a book that would incorporate the interviews and pictures and to find a market for the finished books. Proceeds would be donated to an orphanage in Deva, Romania (see www.devaigyerekek.hu/).

A wonderful book was published in May 2006, the result of an enormous joint effort of children, teachers, my co-researcher, and community people. The book contains 16 pictures and interviews with all of the children. This book demonstrates that children want their voices to be heard and that adults are interested in hearing these voices.

In addition, this book validates children's words, which state that children can help other children worldwide. These Hungarian youngsters strongly believed that they were able to not only advocate for the orphans in Romania, but also make their lives better with the help of this book. Reading the words, looking at the pictures in the books, and visualizing the joy of the Romanian orphans made us professional participants feel privileged to be part of this ACEI initiative.

Project: 10th Anniversary on the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Organization: International Tapori Children's Network
Contact: Catherine Moore

The motto of the Tapori Children's Network is, "We want all children to have the same chances." One of the most important chances is the opportunity to speak for yourself and your community. Tapori encourages groups of children throughout the world to read stories, specifically about poverty, and complete activities that work to build understanding among children. Children often are asked to speak for themselves in these activities. Tapori newsletters feature the messages of children, which encourage other children to send their own messages to Tapori in various forms.

According to the Tapori Web site, "The name TAPORI was chosen as a sign of friendship with the poorest children." The man who started Tapori, Joseph Wresiniski, met very poor children in India called Taporis, who lived in train stations and took care of each other.

In November 1999, more than 80 children from all over the world came together in Geneva, Switzerland, to meet with Mary Robinson, then the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights. The children brought messages from all over the world that encouraged nations to uphold the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which had been signed 10 years earlier. Early in 1999, Tapori asked children to send in self-portraits on pieces of cloth. These were sewn together into long "friendship banners." Before the meeting, Tapori started traveling around the United States, visiting groups of children. Using large interactive panels, Tapori asked kids to write down what opportunities they thought all children should have.

These activities also tied in to a long-term project that had been started in 1995, which asked children to send in a stone no bigger than a penny and write why that stone was special to them. The stones, more than 5,000 in all, were used to create a sculpture that represented the dreams of children.

At the meeting with Mary Robinson, children presented music, art, and messages from children all around the world. At the end of the day, Robinson spoke to the children, saying, "You have given us a very strong message. It is not enough to have a convention, even to have it accepted by almost all the countries of the world. We have to make it work; we have to make it a reality in the lives of children." For more information, visit www.4thworldmovement.org.

Project: Sowing the Seeds of Love
Organization: Ming Hsin University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Coordinator: Cecilia Lingfen Chang (Mrs. Lin)

The Taiwan government has alliances with some nonprofit organizations that encourage children to speak up for other children. The Ministry of Education provides funding and expertise to facilitate teacher training and projects with disadvantaged children. Additionally, the World Vision Taiwan section provides funding, volunteers, and training to assist developing countries, and the Taiwan Children's Rights Association holds international children's rights summits and provides activities across the island. The Child Welfare League Foundation and the Family Service Center provide policy advocacy and services to disadvantaged children and families. Additionally, reading programs, computer training, and English summer camp sessions are held regularly to benefit disadvantaged rural communities, and regular weekend fairs link children in the cities with children from orphanages. The principles surrounding all activities focus on planting the seeds of love and caring for one another. Student projects evince a commitment to caring that embraces the spirit of compassion and advocacy. The stories included below demonstrate the capacity of children to reach out and care for others.

"Mom, can we collect candies for African children?" asked 6th-grader Lin Ho-Chi, from Pi-Hou elementary school in Chang-hwa City, after he had read a book titled "Love Africa, Lien Chen-An." Chen-an, a diplomatic substitute military serviceman, writes in his book that many African children have never tasted candy. Ho-chi then developed a candy donation activity. The Taiwan news reported that Ho-Chi conducted a music play in front of the Chang-hwa train station, and has collected thousands of dollars for students who cannot afford lunches. The news also reported that World Vision Taiwan has become involved in this activity, helping ship candy to different African countries.

In another project in Hsin-Chu, Taiwan, kindergartners learned about the struggles of rice field work. Students decided to make scarecrows to help farmers. While drawing plans for such a creation, one kindergartner depicted a scarecrow wearing glasses, "so he can see things better." Through this project, children demonstrated their understanding of the work, and their desire to help others.

Kindergartners in Zhsin-Chu, Taiwan, demonstrated their care and compassion when they were encouraged to consider how they might care for others less fortunate than themselves. They responded through drawings and words, stating, "As kids, we can care for blind people and elderly people by helping them across the street and letting them have seats first on the bus" and "If I see a handicapped person or elderly person, I can help them by giving them my seat and helping them across the street, and providing the help that he/she needs." A 4th-grader shows, through illustration, how children might help other children. The crying girl says, "I don't know how to do it." Another girl replies, "Do not worry, take your time." One boy says, "I do not have a good leg; I cannot play ball." The other boy replies, "Go! Go! Let us do it slowly."

In conclusion, everyone who works with young children is planting a seed of love. Life is like an immortal diamond-it produces light and heat through continuing learning. Through lively stories, plays, songs, drama, and diaries, we learn to motivate children to respect themselves and others; we learn to encourage caring and to implement it in our actions. We learn to empower kids morally to reflect on actions and develop personality and spirituality.

Research Supporting Child Participation
Child participation, duly noted as a requisite right in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), affords an array of benefits. The late Urie Bronfenbrenner wrote,

It is not only what the community does for the child that contributes to his development. Of equal if not greater importance is what he does for that community-quite modestly at first, but gradually at increasing levels of responsibility. . . . It is in part the enforced inutility of children in our society that works to produce feelings of alienation, indifference, and antagonism. Learning early in life the skills and rewards of service to one's community brings with it the benefits of a more stable and gratifying self-identity. (1970, p. 156)

Conclusion
Many scholars and much research concur with Bronfenbrenner's vision. Dorman (1985) recognizes "meaningful participation in home, school, and the community" as a necessary component of child development. The opportunities children have to serve and to actively contribute in a meaningful way to society inform many aspects of their identity and support their success in multiple areas (Hoose, 1993; Lewis, 1995, 1998; Roberts, 2002).

Scales and Leffert (1999) found that service by children leads to increased self-esteem, augmented sense of personal control, and enhanced identity development. They are also more likely to develop greater life skills, including leadership, public speaking, dependability, and job responsibility. Such service also helps to decrease loneliness, shyness, and hopelessness, and leads to less involvement in risk-taking behaviors (Billig, 2000).

Finally, increased academic achievement and personal safety are evidenced by children who serve (Akujobi & Simmons, 1997).

Melchior (1999) found supplementary benefits to service. In addition to gains in academic achievement, children who served displayed more acceptance of cultural diversity, became aware of community needs, and developed an ethic of volunteer service. Similarly, Scales, Blyth, Berkas, and Kielsmeier (2000) found an increase in helping behaviors, empathy, and concern for others' welfare. Furco (2001) found that participation in service led to an increase in positive attitudes toward the future.

Research on child resiliency recognizes the importance of service, citing its protective factors against pervasive negative life experiences. Children who feel they have something to contribute and who are actively called upon to do so feel more empowered and confident (Werner & Smith, 1992).

Affording children opportunities to serve holds the promise of encouraging ethical and social responsibility and enhancing the actualization of individual and collective potential (Halperin, 1996). Youniss, McClellan, and Yates (1997) found that through active participation in service, children were more likely to develop a sophisticated understanding of societal trends, to reflect on politics, and to feel empowered to make a difference in their world.

Goethe said, "Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now." It is our sincere hope that these children's words and actions provide motivation for the development of meaningful and creative opportunities for child participation, that their collective visions increase personal resolve, and that, together, we can all commit to "begin it now."

References
Akujobi, C., & Simmons, R. (1997). An assessment of elementary school service-learning teaching methods: Using service-learning goals. National Society for Experiential Education Quarterly (Winter), 19-27.

Billig, S. H. (2000). Research on school-based service-learning: The evidence builds. Phi Delta Kappan, 81(9), 658-664.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1970). Two worlds of childhood: U.S. and U.S.S.R. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Dorman, G. (1985). 3:00 to 6:00: Planning programs for young adolescents. Carrboro, NC: Center for Early Adolescence.

Furco, A. (2001). Is service-learning really better than community service? A study of high school service program outcomes. In A. Furco & S. H. Billig (Eds.), Service learning: Essence of the pedagogy. Volume 1 of the Advances in Service-Learning Research series. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishers.

Halperin, S. (1996). Working at learning. Education Week, 15(32), 33-36.

Hoose, P. (1993). It’s our world too! Boston: Joy Street Books.

Lewis, B. A. (1995). The kid's guide to service projects. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing.

Lewis, B. A. (1998). The kids' guide to social action. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing.

Melchior, A. (1999). Summary report: National evaluation of Learn and Serve America. Waltham, MA: Center for Human Resources, Brandeis University.

Roberts, P. (2002). Kids taking action. Greenfield, MA: Northeast Foundation for Children.

Scales, P., Blyth, D., Berkas, T., & Kielsmeier, J. (2000). The effects of service learning on middle school students' social responsibility and academic success. Journal of Early Adolescence, 20(3), 331-358.

Scales, P. C., & Leffert, N. (1999). Developmental assets: A synthesis of the scientific research on adolescent development. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.

U.N. General Assembly. (1989). Convention on the rights of the child. Retrieved May 25, 2006, from www.cirp.org/library/ethics/UN-convention/

Werner, E. E., & Smith, R. S. (1992). Overcoming the odds: High risk children from birth to adulthood. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Youniss, J., McClellan, I. A., & Yates, M. (1997). What we know about engendering civic identity. American Behavioral Scientist, 40, 620-631.