A Handbook of Children and Young People’s Participation: Perspectives from Theory and Practice

A Handbook of Children and Young People’s Participation: Perspectives from Theory and Practice By Percy-Smith, Barry and Thomas, Nigel ( eds ) Abingdon : Routledge , 2009 ISBN 9780415468527 , 378 pp, £24.99 (pb ) Placed firmly in the context of children and young people’s right to participate as outlined in Article 12 and related articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, this book looks at how children and young people have been engaged in different types, contexts and models of participation across the world. Whilst it does not give a definitive explanation of what participation is, it does aim to give a better understanding of the diverse ways in which the participation of children and young people is understood and takes place globally. It becomes apparent through reading the Handbook that having a voice means many things to many people and depends on the context of where it takes place and on the different social constructions of what childhood is in different countries. Whereas in western countries, we tend to emphasis the expression of views in public sector decision making, in many countries, participation has a wider meaning of active contribution to the family and community. I found the Handbook easy to read even though it had 42 different contributors, ranging from practitioners and researchers to young people. It is divided into three main parts. Part one sets the context on the current state of play in children and young people’s participation. Part two brings together reflections on practical experiences of doing participation. As this is a big section, it is further divided into contexts of practice and approaches to practice. Part three explores new ways of thinking about children and young people’s participation. Within the Handbook, there are examples of participation work from across the world that can be seen as a real force for change, enhancing the effectiveness of projects and services, improving communities and promoting inclusion and citizenship. Alongside these positive examples, I found it just as useful to learn from the less positive illustrations of how ‘participation’ has been used tokenistically, manipulating the engagement of children and young people to give an illusion of empowerment but in fact providing a smokescreen for inaction. Each section ends with a commentary and this is where young people’s contribution is most prominent. I found these commentaries useful as they offered personal views from different participation experiences and perspectives. In this mix, the Handbook has created a space for dialogue between theory and practice, between the majority and minority worlds and between adults and young people. I found the diversity of examples of where people worked in differing social settings and many different structural and cultural settings thought provoking and at times inspiring. In the final chapter, the editors take on the challenge of pulling together all the information from the individual chapters and commentaries into emerging themes and they suggest new directions for participation to take. In the foreword, Martin Woodhead describes it as essential reading for anyone embarking on a child participation initiative as well as for students and scholars in childhood research and children’s rights. I would agree. As someone who has worked in the field for some time and supports others in their participation developments in the public and voluntary sector, it has given me food for thought in the institutional approaches that we in the minority world tend to favour in contrast with the community-based participation in the majority world that has so much to offer the development of children and young people’s civic skills. I was inspired to read of grass roots civic engagement from India where a project for 5000 child reporters from across the country reporting on development issues in their villages has been illustrated as an agent of change. Similar types of local participation could offer a degree of empowerment for many children and young people from diverse backgrounds across the UK. This could be alongside the more formal structures that are currently offered by government departments in terms of consultations and youth advisory groups that tend to be for the few and most articulate. Both forms of civic engagement could learn from each other and offer more opportunities for the wider participation of children and young people.