If human rights education of schoolchildren addresses advocacy at all, it is mostly or exclusively in terms of civic participation, which perhaps includes civil protest. This approach implicitly discourages young people from considering engaging with the courts as an additional or alternative vehicle in seeking a remedy for violations of their…

States do not make a genuine commitment to peace where children's right to be educated for tolerance is denied. Education for tolerance is considered a central aim of education, as set out in Article 29 of the "Convention on the Rights of the Child" (CRC). Hence, states are obliged under the convention to create conditions conducive to such an…

This theoretical article suggests that advocacy "by" children promotes their resilience and positive self-conception. The psychological benefits of such advocacy by the child are distinguished from mental health interventions where the child is generally viewed as a passive participant and "deficient" in critical ways. Evidence is presented…

This paper examines a seminal case in US education law regarding the separation of Church and State in the public schools. The issue decided was whether it is constitutional under American law for a school district to mandate reference to "intelligent design" (ID) as an alternative to the theory of evolution whilst instructing students…

The 2004 Supreme Court of Canada decision in "Auton" concerns the right of autistic children to access services held by their parents to be essential to their children's ability to participate as members of a democratic society. It is argued that the child's right to have his or her basic developmental needs met is a constitutionally…

Despite any international declarations to the contrary, basic education comes in practice to be conveniently regarded by governments as being synonymous with the level of schooling that the State stipulates is free and compulsory. Thus the operational definition of basic education is quite variable internationally and often does not include…

This article discusses the need for authentic social research with children given the fact that increasingly such research is being relied on to inform social policy which profoundly affects the lives of children. Authentic research is operationalized in this article as that research which gives power and voice to child research participants and…