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Children's Right to Be Heard: Learning from Children about Their Perspectives on Play

by Julie Nicholson, Priya Mariana Shimpi, and Christine Carducci
September/October 2012
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Article Link: http://stage.exchangepress.com/article/childrens-right-to-be-heard--learning-from-children-about-their-perspectives-on-play/5020754/

As play researchers, we have an interest in the diversity of experiences and views people have on play. We are also curious about how the concept of play could be better understood in order to shape advocacy efforts in support of increased opportunities for children and adults to play. In 2010, we started a large research study, The Global Play Memories Project (GPMP), with the aim of collecting adults’ memories of their childhood play and their thoughts about how children’s play today compares to the play experiences they remembered.

In the process of collecting adults’ thoughts on children’s play today, we recognized that a critical piece missing from our research was the voice of children themselves. We were inspired by the United Nations Convention (UNCRC) on the Rights of the Child to include voices of children in our research. The UNCRC was the first legally-binding international document outlining children’s human rights. The UNCRC made “respect for the views of the child” one of its four core principles and in 2009, a UN declaration was made for children’s ‘right to be heard’ which encouraged the involvement of children in decision-making contexts where their lives and welfare were impacted (Liebel, 2012).

Children’s Play Narrative ...

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