Activity 1

UNICEF is an international organisation which states its mission as:

‘to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. UNICEF is guided in doing this by the provisions and principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.’ (from the UNICEF website)

Look at http://www.unicef.org/crc/ – these are UNICEF’s pages examining the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

This link to UNICEF – http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf – provides a summary of the key articles that make up the UNCRC.

Activity 2

Reflect on issues raised in this case study:

Miriam is interested in researching children’s gendered identities. She plans to ask parents and educators what their perceptions are on the topic because she thinks the children are too young to understand the idea of gender and would be unable to talk about it. How would you respond to this student?

Some things to keep in mind:

• Children do show an awareness of gender at an early age.
• Children do experience sexism and gendered ideas about what is ‘appropriate’ for them from an early age.
• This position assumes there are some topics that children are ‘innocent’ of.
• Is talking the only way you might research this topic? What about observation for instance?
• This position assumes adults can speak assuredly on behalf of children (although they do – of course – have an important view)