Date: 01 May 2010
The European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction has launched a thematic paper on the perspectives of children affected by drugs and alcohol use and policies. The launch coincides with international children's day, June 1st.
It is an important contribution and one delivered very much in the spirit of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. As noted by EMCDDA in the introduction to the report
"In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a special convention because people under 18 years old often require care and protection that adults do not. Article 12 of the legally binding United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children must be able to express their views in dialogues and decisions affecting their lives... Qualitative research among children provides a channel for that expression and can help to reveal and interpret what lies behind child and adolescent statistics. Article 33 of the Convention states that children have the right to protection from the use of narcotic and psychotropic drugs. Research that focuses on the meanings and perceptions of drug and alcohol use from the perspective of children whose lives are in some ways exposed to these substances offers a way to understand their needs and to plan appropriate interventions."
Insights on drug and alcohol use, laws and policies, parental use, stigma and societal attitudes are provided from children and young people from a diverse range of countries including Ireland, UK, Finland and Latvia.
The full report "Children's voices. Experiences and perceptions of European children on drug and alcohol issues" may be downloaded via EMCDDA
© 2024 Human Rights and Drugs.