Children are the most vulnerable and, in many respects, the most vital aspect of any community's future. However they remain one of the most neglected social groups says Professor Ross Homel, Director of the Ethics and Governance Centre at Queensland's Griffith University.
Professor Homel, a specialist in developmental approaches to crime prevention, said the Australian government had ratified the international charter on the rights of the child. He said that the States had done a lot to address child abuse, but these had only occurred through public pressure.
"We really haven't looked at the impact of social and economic change [in Australia], particularly on disadvantaged children," Professor Homel said, "and we have absolutely failed, dismally and comprehensively, as a nation to respond in a satisfactory manner to the needs of children in indigenous communities."
Australia's preoccupation with "material success" had seen the erosion of community values in the last decade, Professor Homel said, and with climate change capturing so much attention he feared children's rights would continue to be ignored.
The Professor Homel says it is important to understand that children did not grow up in isolation but in circles of family, school and community at large. Input and support at all these levels were crucial in determining behaviour later in life.
"Its about working in communities with families and schools to change the developmental pathways of children," he said, "so that, instead of ending up in prison, as many of them are destined to do, they end up as productive citizens and also have happy and mentally healthy lives."
Professor Homel launched a report in Canberra late last year which documented a programme of family and community support in underprivileged and vulnerable families of Brisbane.
Titled Pathways to Prevention , the report showed substantial improvements in communication, behaviour and social skills for children in those families.
A forum held jointly by Just Rights Queensland (JRQ) and Concerned Psychologists for Children's Rights in Brisbane this week will highlight the continuing use of violence as a method of discipline in families.
Jeff Brunne, spokeperson for JRQ, said under Queensland law, parents were still able to use, "what is described as reasonable physical methods to restrain children or respond to children's behaviour". This did not conform to international standards which respected the rights of children, he stated, and further emphasised the need to recognise that "children are human beings equal to any other human beings".
"Children like adults should not be subject to assault," Mr Brunne said.
Child's environment
According to Sydney psychologist, Robin Grille, war, injustice and even environmental destructiveness can be related back to emotional injuries sustained in childhood.
In his book titled Parenting for a Peaceful World , Mr Grille documents the traumatic and often brutally violent childhoods of some of the world's worst dictators, including Stalin, Mao, Hitler and Saddam Hussein.
The most compelling support for his claims however is the inclusion of a study conducted in 1988 of 400 German "rescuers" and "non rescuers" of Jews during the Nazi era.
Both groups were uncannily similar across a range of measures, including economic status, religious belief, levels of risk and friendship with Jews. The distinguishing feature that set them apart was "how they had been parented"
"Rescuers," tended to describe their parents as warmer and more caring that "non rescuers", Mr Grille said, and, while both groups described their childhoods as disciplined, rescuers said their parents had used non-violent methods of discipline.
Internationally
Recent figures from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) show that globally one in six children aged 5 - 17 are involved in child labour world wide, with the Asia Pacific region having the highest number at 122 million and Sub Saharan Africa having the highest proportion, at 26 per cent of children (49 million), involved in work.
According to Amnesty International there are over 300,000 children involved in armed conflict in at leat 30 hot spots around the world. While many are combatants and actively fight in the conflict, others are used as spies, messengers, to carry supplies, servants, or to clear landmines. Many experience sexual and other forms of violence.
On February 12, 2002, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child came into force. This Protocol raises the minimum age for direct participation in conflict to 18 years, from the previous minimum age of 15 years.
As of May 2, last year,107 states were parties to the Protocol including three (France, UK and USA) of the five permanent members of the Security Council, but not the Russian Federation and China.
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