Our current politics disrespect children
Political expediency and children's rights don't mix
As the federal election winds down, I keep having thoughts. So here’s another (very) short essay. If you like it, share it. If you’d like more, subscribe. Because children’s rights are worth talking about.
I’m concerned about the example the so-called adults in the room are setting for children, and for all of us. From debates that are incomprehensible, to violence on the campaign trail, to non-statements about important policy questions, this election is one for the history books — for all the wrong reasons. If I were a child seeing all this, I’d wonder how it is that adults can say democracy is important if they’re spending so much time making democracy seem awful.
Democracy is messy. But there’s a line between the messiness of a democratic exchange of ideas, and making it impossible for meaningful ideas to circulate in the first place. Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (child-friendly PDF), children have a right to information. Without that right, children can’t fully experience their other rights. No information, no participation. No information, no expression. No information, no education. No information, no decision-making in children’s best interests.
There’s lots out there in terms of platforms, coverage, commentary, and so on. But it’s all noise from a children’s rights perspective. As I talked about in my last post, political expediency means children’s rights don’t get meaningfully discussed in an election. Sure, there were questions from young people at the French and English debates. But there was no real useful discussion that would help a future voter decide which adults are on their side. Incomplete answers on serious and pressing questions do a disservice to children, and to democracy. If our wannabe leaders can’t be bothered to talk plainly to children on questions fundamental to Canadian society, how are children supposed to trust those leaders, and the system that elects them?
Ultimately, our current political discourse harms children by not respecting them. It harms all of us, in fact. But the more it harms children, the longer children have to live with that harm. And that harm is undermining trust in democracy. We’ll see if social media appeals to the youngest eligible voters result in any surprises once all the ballots are counted. Without more serious efforts to tackle a political culture of misinformation and expediency, however, children will have little reason to believe in democracy in the long term.
For some sources on these ideas, go back to my last three posts.
Re-upping a few election-related children’s rights advocacy resources:
Thank you.